Argentina asks UK court to pause enforcement in $16 billion oil company seizure case

LONDON (Reuters) -Argentina on Monday urged London's High Court to pause enforcement of a $16 billion-plus United States court judgment over the expropriation of oil and gas company YPF, pending an appeal by the Argentinian government in the U.S.

The South American republic was ordered in 2023 to pay minority shareholders around $16 billion resulting from its seizure of a 51% stake in YPF held by Spain's Repsol in 2012, without tendering for shares held by minority investors.

Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, backed by litigation funder Burford Capital, won the ruling in a New York court and say they are now owed more than $17 billion, with interest accruing at roughly $2.5 million a day.

Argentina has lodged an appeal and is fighting enforcement of the judgment, including at London's High Court where Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management applied for recognition and enforcement of the U.S. ruling last year.

The country's lawyer David Railton argued the English case should be put on hold until the U.S. courts have determined its appeal, saying the investors would suffer no prejudice because "there are no assets here against which the judgment can be enforced".

But Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management – which are also trying to enforce the judgment elsewhere – accused Argentina of trying to delay enforcement.

Their lawyer Paul McGrath said in court filings that Argentina's application should be rejected, but argued that if the court decided to pause the case Argentina should be required to put up around $2.5 billion in security.

The case is the latest in London involving Argentinian debt, with the country left facing a roughly 1.6-billion-euro ($1.87 billion) bill over GDP-linked securities in a separate case. Creditors last week applied for a U.S. court to recognise the English judgment in that case.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Sharon Singleton)