MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Noble Falklands Ltd oil activities are 'illegal' and 'clandestine' claims Argentina
Back in June, Tierra del Fuego Federal Judge Lilian Herráez ordered seizures for US$156 million of oil companies 'illegally' operating in 'Malvinas' 
Despite protests by the Cristina Fernández administration, the Falkland Oil and Gas company only recently announced a farm-out agreement with Noble Energy The Argentine government has declared “illegal” and “clandestine” the hydrocarbons' exploration activities carried out off the Falklands/Malvinas Islands by the Houston based Noble Falklands Limited company, according to a resolution by the country's Energy Office.
The decision was published Tuesday in the official gazette with the Energy Secretary communicating the measure to the Foreign Ministry, the Solicitor’s General Office and the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that they conduct the “convenient legal actions.”
Back in June, Federal Judge Lilian Herráez of the city of Río Grande in the southern province of Tierra del Fuego ordered seizures for US$156 million and the confiscation of ships and other assets belonging to oil companies illegally operating in the disputed territories in the South Atlantic, which Argentina claims.
In the latest resolution, the Energy Office also points out that in August 2010 the Foreign Ministry disclosed information on foreign firms, mainly British, carrying out hydrocarbons' activities illegally on Argentina’s continental shelf, violating the country’s “national sovereignty on the hydrocarbon fields” located in the contested area.
Despite protests by the Cristina Fernández administration, the Falkland Oil and Gas company only recently announced a farm-out agreement with Noble Energy Falklands Limited to conduct such activities in the area.
Later in 2013, the Argentine Energy Office barred the Falkland Oil and Gas from operating in that zone for 20 years.
The Energy Office in its resolution released on Tuesday says that the United States Noble Energy Falklands was not registered in its records. In October last year, the Foreign Ministry sent a note to the United Kingdom regarding the controversy. However, the company’s lack of response prompted the sanctions that have been decided, the resolution explains.
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Read all commentsDidn't they do this last year, and the year before? Poor Argentine pseudo democracy, can't even come up with any new lies.
Oct 07th, 2015 - 05:12 am 0Really they need to get a new record.
And once again, Noble isn't being clandestine.
Hey Argentina this is the definition of clandestine: “characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious.”
And since Noble has kept what they're doing secret, or concealed anything, nor are they doing anything illegal, being that they're drilling in Falkland Islands EEZ with consent of the legal authority in that area, the Falkland Islands Government, then you have to wonder what Argentina actually means.
Not only that, but every sane person who reads this will thing exactly the same thing. It's not clandestine, and it's not illegal.
Clandestine like pirates. It all makes sense.
Oct 07th, 2015 - 08:17 am 0@1: Agreed.
Oct 07th, 2015 - 08:26 am 0Not to mention their order to “confiscate” (read: steal) the assets of a company operating *legally* in Falklands waters is quite dodgy, especially since they haven't been able to prove their sovereignty claims over that area.
It's funny - various trolls on this site have slandered the legitimate inhabitants of the Falklands as “pirates”.
Should have known they were projecting.
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