Minister sees no foreign threat to Repsol despite Pemex move

Industry Minister Miguel Sebastián said Wednesday he saw "absolutely no risk" of leading Spanish oil firm Repsol YPF falling into foreign hands.

Sebastián was speaking after EL PAÍS had reported that Petróleos de México (Pemex) saw a great opportunity to obtain "concrete benefits" and have an influence over Repsol's major strategic and operational decisions by increasing its stake in Repsol as part of a pact with Spanish builder Sacyr Vallehermoso, which is Repsol's largest shareholder with a 20-percent stake.

Sacyr and Pemex have agreed to pool their votes in major decisions taken by Repsol's board.

In response to the EL PAÍS report, Pemex said Wednesday it has always acted as a "loyal" partner of Repsol in the 30 years it has been a shareholder in the company.

Sebastián said he saw no "threat" in the pact as both Repsol's major and second biggest shareholder (savings bank La Caixa with a 13-percent interest) are both Spanish. "We have always defended Repsol's Spanishness," Sebastián told reporters in the corridors of Congress.

Pemex is raising its stake in Repsol from 4.8 percent to 9.8 percent for $1.6 billion. According to in-company documents to which EL PAÍS has had access, Pemex calculates that in order to obtain the same clout in another oil company of comparable dimensions to the Spanish firm, it would have to pay as much as $30 billion.

Pemex also said interest rates on the $1-billion debt it has taken on to pay for the increase in its stake would in part be serviced by the dividend payments it receives from Repsol.

Pemex is also keen on getting access to Repsol's know-how in deep-water exploration and production, the in-house documents said.

In a statement filed with the National Securities Commission (CNMV) on Wednesday, Pemex said it had always "acted in a committed and loyal manner in the Spanish energy sector and in the permanent defense of Repsol's corporate interests."

Pemex estimated that closer cooperation with Repsol as a result of increasing its stake could reap benefits of $4.3 billion through greater access to technology.

Pemex said it was Repsol that had approached it to offer it participation in some of the Spanish oil firm's technological projects, and denied that it had ever appropriated know-how from it.

Former economic adviser to Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, David Taguas, said Wednesday, Pemex's in-house report should not be misinterpreted. "It seems to me [...] that it is no more than the typical in-house report of any company that is defending the interests of its investment," Taguas said.

Separately, the National Energy Commission (CNE) is due to decide on Thursday whether to investigate the deal between Pemex and Sacyr, sources at the energy sector watchdog said Wednesday. Any probe would examine whether the deal could prove a threat to the security of Spain's energy supplies and regulated activities.

Repsol holds a 31-percent stake in Gas Natural Fenosa, which transports and distributes gas and electricity, both of which are regulated activities.