Argentine Government Issues Arrest Warrants for Shell Executives

What is going on with Argentina? On the one hand, we sing its praises at Agora and Doug Casey lives there and loves it. Rick Rule has companies that he recommends, that are one-trick Argentine ponies, and I don't mean polo ponies. Bill owns the Rancho, as we all know.

Yet the government is doing everything it can to wreck the energy economy. Look at this mess below, with Shell (NYSE:RDS.A). There are price controls on oil & fuel, so there's no production, and no import...and then they issue arrest warrants for the Shell executives? Can someone explain to me how this is business friendly? Or is this just high-visibility populismo & PR for the masses, and deep down nobody goes to jail? At least, winter is coming to an end down there and the weather will be warming up.

Here’s the story from MarketWatch:

“'BUENOS AIRES (MarketWatch) - The Argentine unit of Royal Dutch Shell plans to send letters Thursday to its service stations declaring a force majeure, citing a government order to shut down its refinery, Shell Argentina President Juan Jose Aranguren said.

"'Shell Argentina began shutting down its Doc Sud refinery in Buenos Aires after receiving an order from the government's Environmental Ministry on Wednesday night. "We have a situation of force majeure, and we consider it out of our control," Aranguren told reporters during a meeting at Shell Argentina headquarters.

"'The shutdown order is the latest in a string of clashes since 2005...price controllers have since fined Shell for allegedly failing to supply the market and sought arrest warrants for Aranguren and other Shell Argentina executives.'"

Byron King
The Daily Reckoning Australia

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