Op-ed: A long road ahead for YPF valuation

Now that the Argentine government has expropriated YPF, a subsidiary of Repsol, the Spanish multinational will struggle to determine a fair and adequate price that it will pay for the expropriation. In other words, the price will likely drop.

The first steps for Kirchner's government (deciding how to stage the announcement and removing Spanish executives from YPF headquarters) foretell that despite the international community's rejection of Kirchner's decision, she is not going to make things easy.

Initially, the difference between the valuation and the expropriation was vast, because Argentina cited the figure at 4,000 dollars and Brufau demanded 18,300 dollars.

A long and grueling process will ensue, and neither the oil companies nor the Spanish government should give up enlisting support.