Spain's Repsol slashes reserves by 25%

Repsol YPF SA, Spain's biggest oil company, will write off about 25 percent of its gas and oil reserves because of higher taxes in Bolivia and deteriorating production from deposits in Argentina.
Repsol will eliminate 1.25 billion barrels of proven oil equivalent and its audit committee hired independent advisers to help review circumstances leading to the writedown, Chairman Antonio Brufau said in a call today with analysts. The Madrid- based company's shares fell 7.9 percent in Spain, headed for their largest one-day percentage drop since 1991.
``They really must increase exploration now, and that means more investment,'' said Antonio Gallego, who helps manage the equivalent of $6.7 billion at Gesfinmed in Alicante, Spain, including Repsol's shares. ``At the same time they're trying to discover if there was any manipulation of data.''

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