UPDATE 3-Argentine Senate, house committee back YPF takeover

* Polls show most Argentines favor the expropriation
* Spain, in reprisal, halts imports of Argentine biodiesel
* Attention turns to how much compensation Argentina will
pay

By Hugh Bronstein
BUENOS AIRES, April 26 (Reuters) - Argentina stepped toward
nationalizing its biggest oil company on Thursday when the
government's expropriation bill sailed through the Senate and
then a lower house committee, setting the stage for final
legislative approval next week.
The rapid-fire votes by the full Senate and a joint
committee of the Chamber of Deputies underscored broad domestic
support for a proposal that has infuriated foreign investors.
The expropriation of YPF from majority holder
Repsol has widened the breach between Argentina and
trade partners critical of President Cristina Fernandez's
nationalist policies, including import controls that have hurt
confidence in Latin America's No. 3 economy.
But that has not hurt her popularity at home. Having won a
landslide re-election in October, the 59-year-old leader
unveiled plans last week to seize a 51 percent stake in YPF.
The Senate voted 63-3 to approve the measure early on
Thursday. Lower house member and Fernandez ally Agustin Rossi
predicted the bill will get "the same level of support" when the
257-member Chamber of Deputies is expected to give final
legislative approval to the YPF takeover late next week.
Once the bill passes, making the takeover permanent,
a ttention will turn to the compensation Argentina will pay
Spain's Repsol for its stake. Officials have already said it
will be far lower than the $9.3 billion the company has sought.
The government justifies the expropriation by saying YPF
was under-investing and under-producing in Argentina, a charge
that Repsol dismisses.
Madrid has vowed to halt multimillion-dollar imports of
biodiesel from Argentina in retaliation, while ratings agencies
Moody's and S&P said the YPF seizure could heighten Argentina's
economic isolation at a time of slowing growth.

Argentina's trade surplus, a pillar of Fernandez's economic
policy, shrank last year as fuel imports more than doubled -
sending the issue of flagging oil and natural gas production to
the top of the president's list of priorities.

Buenos Aires says it needs to control YPF in order to
guarantee enough domestic oil and gas output to keep the economy
expanding in the face of slower demand from key trade partner
Brazil and fallout from Europe's debt crisis.
State news agency Telam said on Thursday that, since being
shifted to preliminary government control last week, YPF has
increased gas production by almost 5 percent and oil production
by 0.7 percent per day.
Most Argentines support the move to re-nationalize YPF,
privatized in the 1990s after 70 years under full state control.
Many blame the privatizations and free-market reforms of that
decade for provoking Argentina's 2001/02 financial meltdown.

NOT A "CAPRICIOUS, RANDOM DECISION"
Argentina has yet to return to global credit markets a
decade after its crippling 2001/02 sovereign debt default - the
biggest in history.
With memories of this debacle still fresh, many voters have
hailed Fernandez's calls for "energy sovereignty."
A survey published last weekend by polling company
Poliarquia showed 62 percent of respondents agreed with the
expropriation, with 23 percent against it.
"The government's bill doesn't reflect a capricious or
random decision," ruling party Senator Marcelo Fuentes said.
"It's a logical result stemming from the need to reverse
free-market thinking in energy policy."
The president pledged during her 2011 re-election campaign
to deepen the government model pioneered by her late husband and
predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner.
A fiery public speaker sometimes compared to Argentina's
famous first lady Evita Peron, Fernandez has worn only black
since Kirchner's sudden death in 2010 and she has dedicated
YPF's takeover to his memory.
In a speech on Tuesday, Fernandez acknowledged she was
nervous when she announced the YPF takeover plan: "They weren't
nerves caused by doubts or insecurities. On the contrary; I'm
absolutely certain that this is the only way."
"What upset me was that he (Kirchner) couldn't be here to
see such a historic moment."