Hague attacks Argentine seizure of Spanish oil assets He said the Spanish-controlled company was being expropriated "without any justification." Spanish Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria promised "consequences" in the coming days. "They will be in the diplomatic field, the industrial field, and on energy," he said. Spain is due to consider its next steps at a cabinet meeting on Friday but it appeared to have limited leverage over Argentina, which has proven impervious to pressure in the past. Repsol said YPF was worth $18 billion as a whole, and that it would seek compensation on that basis. YPF's market capitalization is $10.4bn, according to Reuters data. Argentina's Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kicillof said Buenos Aires would not agree to Repsol's valuation. " We're not going to pay what they say," he told the Senate committee kicking off a debate over the expropriation bill. We need YPF's objectives to match Argentina's objectives ... The state is the solution. He said that securing control of YPF was central to Fernandez fulfilling her reelection campaign promise of "deepening the model" for her state-centric policies. A surging fuel import bill has pushed production to the top of Fernandez's agenda at a time of worsening state finances in Latin America's No. 3 economy. Repsol, whose shares fell a further 1.4pc on Wednesday and are now down around 7pc so far this week, said the takeover was unjustified and vowed to defend its interests. "This battle is not over," company Chairman Antonio Brufau said. The expropriation is nothing more than a way of covering over the social and economic crisis facing Argentina right now. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged Argentina to uphold international agreements on business protection with Spain. "I am seriously disappointed about yesterday's announcement," he said in Brussels. Spanish media slammed the expropriation, believed to be biggest nationalization in the natural resources field since the seizure of Russia's Yukos oil company a decade ago. La Razon newspaper carried a photograph of Fernandez on its front page in a pool of oil with the headline: "Kirchner's Dirty War," a reference to her full name. El Periodico spoke of "The New Evita," noting Fernandez announced the nationalization in a room dominated by a large sculptured image of Eva Peron, the first lady of Argentina from 1946-1952 who is revered by many Argentines as a champion of the poor. YPF has been under pressure from Fernandez's center-left government to boost oil production, and its share price has plunged in recent months on speculation about a state takeover. Spanish investment in Argentina may now be at risk after the move on YPF. In the "reconquista," or reconquest, of the 1990s, newly privatized Spanish businesses bought Latin American banks, telephone companies and utilities. "Reconquista" refers to the Spanish conquest of the region 500 years earlier. Foreign investors are key to helping develop one of the world's largest reserves of shale oil and gas recently discovered in the Vaca Muerta area of Argentina. Investors have pushed up the cost of protecting themselves against the risk of Argentina defaulting on its debt. Since February, Argentine credit default swaps have cost more than those of Venezuela, whose credit is also considered risky. Mariano Rajoy travelled to Mexico to drum up support at the World Economic Forum which is meeting ahead of G20 and IMF meetings later this week. Lawyers said Argentina was legally allowed to take back YPF, which was sold to Repsol for $15bn in 1999, as long as shareholders are paid. Raoul Ruparel of Open Europe said: "EU countries are the biggest investors into South America and the EU is also the area's biggest export market - so there is economic and political remit even if there isn't a legal one." Mr Brufau said the move was "manifestly illegal and gravely discriminatory." He said YPF accounted for 25.6pc of Repsol's operating profit, 21pc of its net profit and 33.7pc of its investments. "These are big figures but we can withstand them," he said. He said Ms Fernandez de Kirchner was "hiding the economic and social crisis which Argentina is suffering." He said she had operated a "mistaken energy policy" that has led to the country's bill for oil imports shooting up 110pc last year to $9.4bn. He flatly denied her claim that Repsol had not invested enough in the assets, saying $20bn had been poured into YPF. Meanwhile, a Chinese news website reported that China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec Group) was in talks to buy YPF. Caixin.com said China's second-largest oil company had agreed to take over YPF for more than $15bn. The nationalisation will have scuppered the deal.