One of the strangest ships ever to visit the Falkland Islands this week lay at anchor in Port William after making a hasty departure from FIPASS. Had it not left the dock, an ongoing legal wrangle involving its owners could have caused it to be detained there indefinitely – rendering a significant proportion of FIPASS unusable by other vessels, perhaps for a very long time.
Spain’s main oil company Repsol has listed 26.21 million shares of YPF on the New York Stock Exchange for 1.08 billion US dollars as part of a plan to divest its stake in its Argentine unit.
President Dilma Rousseff will not be visiting Paraguay until the Brazilian Congress approves the Itaipú reversal notes which establish a greater compensation for surplus power purchased from Paraguay by Latin America’s energy hungry largest economy.
Rockhopper Exploration announced Monday that its Sea Lion discovery in the North Falkland basin is likely to be commercially viable and anticipated drilling for further appraisal wells (a minimum of three).
Singapore based Reflect Geophysical has been selected by Uruguay’s state oil company Ancap to carry out a 2D seismic survey in the country’s Punta del Este and Pelotas offshore basins.
For the Foreign Office the bill approved this week by the Argentine congress that proscribes fines and sanctions for companies or persons involved in support of the oil industry in the Falkland Islands is a ‘boomerang’’ that will only harm Argentine companies, reports Buenos Aires daily La Nacion in its Friday edition.
Eight of Argentina's former energy secretaries have released another document highly critical of the government's energy policies. The document, signed by most of the people who have run the Energy Secretariat since Argentina's return to democracy in 1983, is a scathing criticism of government policy.
London listed Falkland Oil and Gas says that its negotiations to secure a deep water rig are at an advanced stage as it seeks to drill the large prospects it has identified across the South Falkland Basin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backtracking on nuclear power as the atomic emergency in Japan becomes an issue in state-election campaigns. Merkel’s decision to halt seven of Germany’s 17 reactors includes two in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where her party is battling to retain its 59-year-hold on the state in a March 27 vote.
Repsol YPF, (REP) Spain’s biggest oil company, agreed to sell 3.83% in YPF for 639 million US dollars, cutting its holding in the Argentine unit to 76%, and said it plans to sell more shares through a public offering.