After a busy 2011 and 2012, 2013 was a relatively quiet year for exploration around the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The various companies involved in the region's nascent oil and gas industry preferred to spend the year focusing on seismic data acquisition campaigns and consolidating some of their assets.
Rockhopper Exploration has issued details of its next planned exploration wells offshore the Falkland Islands. The details were published on the Offshore site 23 December. Rockhopper was the first of several companies operating in Falklands waters to confirm the existence of oil and gas.
An agreement has been reached between the Falkland Islands government and Rockhopper Exploration regarding tax arising from the Sea Lion farm-out to Premier Oil, an operation involving a billion US dollars, and which according to the settlement generated a credit of 146m dollars for the Islands Treasury.
Argentina has begun a determined campaign to deter companies from drilling for oil in disputed waters around the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic. On the eve of a visit by UK parliamentarians to Buenos Aires this week, the Argentine embassy in London warned that legal action was being ramped up against drillers and their suppliers, reports Terry Macalister in The Guardian.
A visiting delegation from the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce heard on Monday from the Vice-Chairman of the Uruguay-British Chamber of Commerce, Guillermo Wild, that Uruguay offered unrivalled opportunities for trade and access to Latin American markets.
The Falkland Islands Government remains, confident that a mutually acceptable outcome can be reached with Rockhopper, on the matter of their tax bill from FIG, confirmed Financial Secretary Nicola Granger last week and indicated the situation would have no impact on local tax laws.
Falkland Islands Argos Resources oil and exploration company have said that they are extremely well placed to participate in the next round of exploration drilling in the Falklands and they are continuing to consider various ways to finance drilling.
Premier Oil exploring for oil in the Falkland Islands said the company is studying cost alternatives to its drilling operations and crude extracting sub-sea architecture for the development of the Sea Lion project, which could delay the original chronogram for first oil.
The Falkland Islands government is reviewing a tax return submitted by one of the oil companies currently operating off-shore the Islands and is confident a mutually acceptable outcome can be reached.
A Falkland Islands government statement of policy principles on port location and oil infrastructure development passed at Executive Council last week has been met with opposing views from members of the private sector, reports the Penguin News.