Oil giant BP has been given consent to drill a controversial deep-water well west of Shetland. The North Uist well is about 125km to the north west of the islands, at a depth of nearly 1,300m. The UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it had thoroughly examined BP's environmental impact and emergency response plans.
Argentina’s Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron will propose that oil prices for export be raised to 63 dollars per barrel from the current 42 dollars, the Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported Sunday on its website.
As was anticipated yet another Argentine province, Salta, announced Sunday its decision to revoke a concession from Spanish held oil company YPF. The governor from the north-west province of Salta, Juan Manuel Uturbey, and a close ally of President Cristina Fernandez, announced his decision to revoke oil company YPF concession of the Tartagal Oeste area and his intention to include it in a list of areas that will be put out to tender.
The Argentine Government announced on Saturday it had begun the legal proceedings put together with the AFIP tax agency against five British oil companies, accusing them of carrying out illegal operations in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands.
The Argentine province of Mendoza joined on Friday other oil producing areas of the country in cancelling concession contracts which has been awarded to the Spanish owned oil corporation Repsol-YPF, with which the government of President Cristina Fernandez is involved in a controversy over long term investment.
Argentina has asked British and US market regulators to probe whether oil companies that are involved in hydrocarbons exploration off the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands have told investors about the risks of their illicit drilling, the Argentine Foreign Ministry reported.
Argentina and Repsol-YPF oil corporation again clashed on Wednesday over the future of the Spanish owned company while members of President Cristina Fernandez administration said measures “can not be discarded” thus re-launching fears about further government actions.
Adding fuel to the quarrel between Argentina and Spain for disagreements over Spanish investors administrated YPF, Spanish Industry minister of José Manuel Soria vowed on Tuesday to defend his country’s interests.
The exploration company Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd. (FOGL) has entered a farmout agreement with an unnamed party for its licenses south and east of the Falkland Islands.
UK based oil firm Borders & Southern pushed back the time frame for initial results from an exploration campaign offshore the Falkland Islands after a deep water well experienced technical issues.