LatinNews Daily - 26 June 2024

*Moody’s Local Argentina, the local platform of international credit ratings agency Moody’s, has upgraded its long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings for Argentina’s state-owned oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) to AAA.ar, up from AA+.ar. It also upgraded its foreign currency senior secured debt rating to AAA.ar from AA+.ar, as well as assigning a local currency rating of AAA.ar. The ratings outlook is stable. Moody’s Local Argentina said the upgrades “reflect our view that the divestment plan in conventional assets will allow YPF to improve efficiencies and increase its level of profitability”. Earlier this year, YPF announced plans to divest ageing oil fields to free up funds to invest in the Vaca Muerta shale fields in the southwest of the country. It also stated that new infrastructure works in the midstream segment, and a “more favourable regulatory framework” derived from the ‘Ley de bases’ (President Javier Milei’s omnibus reform bill that was approved in the senate on 12 June) and the incentive regime for large investments (Rigi) included in the bill, “will allow YPF to increase its export balance and reduce its exposure to the high volatility of the local economic context”.