UK hunts Falklands oil, South America not impressed

The UK presses on with Falkland Island oil exploration as South American countries seek a claim from the UN, this could get interesting…

The UK have warned ownership of the Falklands was not up for debate as Argentina’s claim for the islands won backing from neighbours. UK Security minister Lord West insisted oil exploration would press ahead. Dismissing president Cristina Fernandez de Kircher’s accusations drilling was illegal, he said: “The Falklands are not up for discussion.”

South American countries Mexico and Venezuela are backing Argentina. The row over oil has left relations at their worst since the 1982 Falklands War.

The UK Geologists say there could be rich energy reserves in the ocean bed surrounding the British Overseas Territory of the Falklands. The UK has said that oil exploration by the Ocean Guardian oil rig from Scotland in the area of the Falkland Islands conforms to international law.

In 2009, Argentina submitted a claim to the UN for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the Falklands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands – all UK territories.

The British were the first to claim the Falklan Islands in 1690 and have never renounced their claim. The Falkland Islands have been continuously and peacefully occupied by the UK since 1833, with the exception of two months illegal occupation by Argentina. Argentina’s attempts to colonise the islands in 1820 to 1833 amounted to near nothing. The islands had no indigenous or settled population before British settlement; therefore the first settlement in the 18th Century was British.

The Falklands Legislative Assembly said that Argentina’s bid to disrupt oil exploration was “no surprise” but “nonetheless disappointing”. The statement added that “all the supplies the industry needs are located here in the islands” and drilling would begin as planned, “weather permitting”.

Following a seismic survey in the mid 1970s it was estimated that 20 billion barrels of oil was recoverable in the Falkland Islands area: apparently six times the then known North Sea reserves. Tentative plans were for British companies to drill the oil and pipe it ashore to Comodoro Rivadavia, an oil town on the Argentine coast. There it would be refined and sold on the world’s markets to the financial advantage of all, including the Falkland Islanders.

The British Geological Survey said there could be 60 billion barrels’ worth of oil, although it is unlikely to be commercially viable to extract that much.

Tags:  exploration, falklands, island, oil, south america, UK, un