Repsol sues Chevron over proposed joint project with YPF

A Madrid commercial court has accepted a suit filed by Repsol against Chevron in relation to the agreement with YPF to jointly develop the Vaca Muerta non-conventional hydrocarbon find in the south of Argentina discovered by the Spanish oil firm before its unit YPF was expropriated by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Europa Press quoted judicial sources as saying late Monday.

In the suit, Repsol accuses Chevron of unfair competition in accepting the offer of the Argentinean government to participate in the Vaca Muerta shale oil project. The US firm and Chevron have signed a memorandum of understanding on the project.

Repsol had already warned that it would sue any of its rivals that seek to take advantage of the “illegal” expropriation of YPF, which Argentina seized in April of this year.

In an earlier suit filed in Spain in September, Repsol accused YPF of infringing rules against unfair competition by offering third parties to participate in projects with the Argentinean oil firm initiated when YPF was still under its ownership.