YPF military coup against Yrigoyen backed by, among others, foreign oil interests. YPF was privatized in 1993 and bought by the Spanish firm Repsol S.A. in 1999; the resulting merger produced 'Repsol YPF'. The renationalization of 51% of the firm was initiated in 2012 by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The government of Argentina eventually agreed to pay $5 billion compensation to Repsol. The company, specializing in the exploration, production, refining and commercialization of petroleum, had its origin in 1907, when oil was discovered near the city of Comodoro Rivadavia in Chubut. Following World War I, oil had become an important
Repsol of the massive Vaca Muerta shale-gas field. The board of the Repsol firm unanimously rejected this offer, as it would have caused them to drop a $10.5 billion lawsuit that was in progress against the Argentine government. Repsol at the time owned 6.4% of the YPF oil-and-gas company. On 25 February 2014 the Repsol board announced it had accepted a settlement offer from the Argentine government of an issue of Argentine bonds valued at $5 billion. The deal concluded after 3 months of negotiations in Buenos Aires was subject to shareholder approval. The agreement ended two years of legal wrangling