Argentina has decided to nationalize a controlling interest in country’s biggest oil company YPF owned by Spanish firm Repsol.

President Cristina Fernandez said a bill be presented to the Senate allowing the government to expropriate 51% of YPF shares.

The move, announced on national television, was welcomed by her cabinet and Argentine governors.

Spain and the EU have already expressed concern at such a state takeover of YPF, in which Repsol has a 57.4% stake.

Shares in YPF fell some 18% on Wall Street following the announcement.

YPF has come under sustained criticism from the Argentine government, which accuses it of failing to invest enough in local oil fields.

Argentina has decided to nationalize a controlling interest in country’s biggest oil company YPF owned by Spanish firm Repsol

The Argentina authorities have accused YPF of not investing enough to increase its output and so lessen the need for imports, an accusation it rejects.

The company has been stripped of a number of leases, including in some of the biggest oil fields in the country.

In recent weeks, speculation has grown that the Argentine government was planning to force through a bigger state role in the firm.

Spain has previously warned Buenos Aires that a takeover of YPF could have consequences for Argentina’s international image.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has made it clear it backs Spain’s position.

In November last year, YPF, which was privatized in 1993, announced a major find of 1 billion barrels of shale oil.

Argentina has some of the world’s largest reserves of shale oil and gas, hydrocarbons trapped deep underground.

Argentina is ranked number three in the world in terms of recoverable resources, behind China and the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration.