If only exploring for oil and gas only involved geology, then life would be infinitely easier for energy companies. Unfortunately, that simply isn't the case, and the recent "deal" between Argentina's YPF and Spain's Repsol is proof of that. YPF and Respol just completed a deal that would pay Respol $5 billion in bonds for the controlling stake in YPF that the Argentine government expropriated from it despite the value of that stake being well more than $10 billion.

This should make Chevron (CVX 0.09%) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B) a little nervous because they both have very large stakes in Argentina's shale region. To find out more about the details around the YPF/Repsol deal and what it could mean for these two big oil players, tune into the video below.