March 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has filed a memorandum supporting Argentina’s bid to suspend a discovery process in a New York court case tied to the 2012 nationalization of state oil company YPF, Argentina’s Treasury Attorney’s Office said on Saturday.
The filing, submitted to the Southern District Court of New York, argues the current discovery is overly intrusive and violates principles of international courtesy and reciprocity. The U.S. government also urged courts to defer to the executive branch’s foreign policy stance when weighing public interest in such matters.
Argentina is seeking to halt the discovery process and the withdrawal of a contempt motion filed by plaintiffs Petersen Energía Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, which were awarded $16.1 billion in damages. The litigation is funded by UK-based Burford Capital, which would receive a significant share of any payout and had sought information on Argentina’s central bank gold reserves.
Argentina maintains the case falls outside U.S. jurisdiction, should be governed by Argentine law, and asserts that President Javier Milei’s administration, in office since December 2023, has fully cooperated with legal requests. It deems the discovery demands disproportionate.
The United States and Argentina have strengthened economic ties under libertarian Milei’s government and U.S. President Donald Trump, with Washington becoming a key backer of Argentina’s plan to seek international investment.
YPF is Argentina’s largest oil and gas company with goals of becoming a global energy exporter through the development of the country’s Vaca Muerta shale formation, which has the world’s second-largest shale gas reserves and fourth-largest shale oil reserves.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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