BUENOS AIRES, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Argentine state oil company YPF is in the final stage of signing a loan with a multilateral body in the coming days that will allow it to finance the debt payments it has committed to in 2022, said the Thursday the company’s financial manager.
Alejandro Lew, who participated in an event organized by the risk rating agency Moody’s, avoided giving details of the amount of the loan and the body with which they are negotiating.
“We are working on a loan that is about to be signed. We are in the final stage of negotiating documentation with the expectation of being able to sign it in the next few days and this is a sign that the international financial market is not necessarily open for Argentina, but it is not open either. totally closed, “he explained.
The executive recalled that the company, a leader in the Argentine oil market, has about 400 million dollars in maturities in 2022 and another 500 million dollars in 2023.
“We understand that (the maturities are) very manageable and in some way very well matched by a loan with a multilateral company that, if all goes well, in a few days we will be signing and largely matching the payments that we have to make in 2022 with these funds. that will come from this loan, “he added.
A company source declined to give the amount of the loan but clarified that the loan would allow “freeing up funds from YPF’s cash flow for the investment plan.”
The company, which leads operations in Vaca Muerta, one of the largest unconventional hydrocarbon reserves in the world, plans to increase in the 2022 budget that is defining investments for next year, YPF president Pablo González told Reuters .
“We have to approve the annual budget for next year where we think we are going to invest more,” González explained. “This year YPF invested 2,700 million dollars, next year we are thinking of 3,500 million dollars and if we increase some 200 million more dollars, it may be the largest investment in the last 4 years,” he added.
(Reporting by Eliana Raszewski, with additional reporting by Agustín Geist; Edited by Walter Bianchi)