Stories for February 2010

Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:42 UTC
Argentina: Oil Co. report refutes drop in hake stocks

An investigation carried out by the oil company Pan American Energy (PAE), at the behest of the Santa Cruz Fisheries Subsecretariat, contends that the capture of common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) has spiked in the San Jorge Gulf fishing-ground. The results of the study contradict claims by the yellow fleet fishers of Caleta Paula, who complain of a smaller abundance of the resource.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:37 UTC
Thirteen cruise vessels visit South Georgia during January

Thirteen cruise ships visited this month South Georgia, according to the SG Newsletter. This included a vessel new to SG, the 112 passenger “Plancius”. However one vessel, l “Clelia II” had to cancel her visit after striking rocks with her propeller at Petermann Island in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:30 UTC
Chevron and Repsol will lead development of Orinoco tar sands

Chevron and Repsol YPF SA will lead development of two 15 billion US dollars projects to pump and refine Venezuelan crude after winning the country’s first oil auction since President Hugo Chavez took office 11 years ago.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:25 UTC
Petrobras finds 25 million barrels oil reserve in shallow waters off Rio

Brazilian government managed energy giant Petrobras announced this week that it has found oil at a well located in shallow waters of the Campos Basin. The find was made in waters just 200 meters deep and is near massive deposits in deeper areas of Campos, which is located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state and is the basin where 80% of Brazil’s oil is extracted.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:20 UTC
Argentine Jan inflation: 1% for the government, double for consultants

Consumer prices in Argentina recorded a 1% increase in January, according to the Indec national statistics bureau. In comparison to the same month last year, inflation reached 8.2%, a figure which is highly criticized by researchers and specialists.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:12 UTC
China/Peru free trade agreement becomes effective March first

The free trade agreement between Peru and China will become effective next March first, following the green light from Beijing’s all powerful Council of State, said the Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism ministry in an official release.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 07:08 UTC
Germany falters and France expands modestly in fourth quarter

Germany's recovery from recession faltered in the final quarter of 2009, according to preliminary figures released on Friday. The German economy failed to grow at all in the last three months of the year, with GDP unchanged compared with the previous quarter.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 03:13 UTC
Argentina plans “insecurity” for Falklands oil exploration and is tracking the rig

The Argentine government is looking for mechanisms to sanction all those vessels that somehow have participated in the Falkland Islands oil exploration logistics. Operations are set to begin next week with the arrival of the “Ocean Guardian” oil rig.
Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 03:09 UTC
China tightens liquidity, tells commercial banks to hike reserve levels

China has ordered banks to increase their reserves for a second time this year, as lending is curbed in a bid to stop the country's economy overheating. Analysts had expected the central bank to increase reserve levels again, but were surprised it ordered a second increase so soon after January's move.
Friday, February 12th 2010 - 19:37 UTC
Falkand Islands: Seismic contractor moves in on unlicensed acreage

AS the Ocean Guardian oil rig is scheduled to arrive in Falklands waters next week, a UK-registered start-up seismic contractor is aiming to carry out a speculative 6,000km multi-client 2D shoot on unlicensed acreage in Falklands waters.