new york march 1 reuters  sp global ratings upgraded argentine state energy giant ypf’s credit rating to “ccc” from “selective default” following its completion of a debt exchange the ratings agency said on monday sp raised its issuer credit ratings on ypf to “ccc” from “sd” and assigned a stable outlook “reflecting more balanced cash flow and normalizing business conditions” the rating is limited by argentina’s score though the standalone rating of ypf was raised to “b” sp said the company which leads development of the huge vaca muerta shale formation in the south american nation extended debt maturities and lowered interest and principal payments through 2023 the rating deep into speculative territoy however reflects the uphill road ypf faces to get its finances in order “we think it will take ypf at least three years to return to prepandemic oil and gas production levels” sp said adding that even with the recent rise in prices for oil and natural gas ypf will struggle to generate free cash flow “the company’s capex guidance for 2021 is about 27 billion and we expect it to stay between 23 billion and 25 billion afterward” said sp “however we believe those levels are ambitious and could be sustained only if oil and gas prices are significantly higher than what we currently assume with record export levels andor asset sales” reporting by rodrigo campos editing by jonathan oatis