Buenos Aires, March 28 (NA) -- Emilio Apud, former Secretary of Energy of the Nation, referred to the decision made by the United States Justice regarding the expropriation of YPF, and stated that the ruling in favor of Argentina is "very good news." In his view, the decision by the American justice system represents "another grain" that adds to the international confidence the country needs "for investments to come." "It is not the same for a country to have a litigation or a pending lawsuit as one without. This leaves everything in the past and generates a more favorable business climate," he stated in statements to Radio Rivadavia, accessed by the Argentine News Agency. Apud, who was also the director of the oil company, explained that "it is useless" to have "a good supplier who offers a good price" if "at any moment they stop producing." "This is what happened with Russia for Europe and the Persian Gulf for Southeast Asia," he exemplified. The former Secretary of Energy expressed that the ruling in favor of Argentina "improves the way we are seen from the outside" where YPF has the obligation to be the example, given that it holds between 40% and 44% of all the concessioned surface of the Vaca Muerta formation. Ruling on YPF: they argue that Argentina avoided a multimillion-dollar blow and consolidated a key state policy. And he hinted that the country must start focusing more on the export of gas and oil: "We have to start forgetting about the local market. The future of oil and gas is export." War in the Middle East and increase in gasoline Regarding the escalation of the conflict and the relationship with the rise in fuel, Apud indicated that the price of gasoline "is lagging by 8% to 10%" if the price of US$100 per barrel is taken. "If the price remains at US$100, in the coming days the value of gasoline must jump more, with a total increase of between 25% and 30%." This, according to his explanation, is because "in the long run it has to reach the equilibrium value" and currently the prices at the pumps correspond to a barrel of US$80. "If the Government does not want it to translate into inflation, the only thing it can do is freeze the taxes because they are very outdated." For him, the Executive's decision to increase the percentage of bioethanol in gasoline "can make it drop a little" as long as "the price of bioethanol is below the price of the barrel." Finally, and looking ahead to the new winter season, he assured that Argentina "is not going to have supply problems" and "there is nothing to worry about."
