Energy & Oil

• Friday, April 10th 2015 - 03:09 UTC

  “UK has no doubt about sovereignty over the Falklands and Islanders right to decide their future”

  

  The UK Foreign Office summoned Argentine Ambassador Alicia Castro to object recent remarks regarding the Falkland Islands by President Cristina Fernandez and the diplomat based in London. An FCO spokesperson said that Britain has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and surrounding maritime areas, nor about the Falkland Islanders' right to decide their own future.

• Friday, April 10th 2015 - 03:06 UTC

  Uruguay considering extending length of oil exploration contracts

  

  Uruguay is considering extending the length of its oil exploration contracts with foreign companies drilling in its waters in order to shore up investment at a time of plunging crude prices, it said on Wednesday. BP, BG Group, Total, a joint venture of Tullow Oil and Inpex, and a consortium of YPF, Royal Dutch Shell and Galp all have exploration agreements and have invested around $2 billion to date.

• Friday, April 10th 2015 - 00:44 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez will visit his close new friend Putin on April 22/23

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández will be heading to Moscow in just under two weeks upon invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The announcement of the president’s 22/23 April visit to Russia came amid news that she would also visit Pope Francis in the Vatican on June 7.

• Friday, April 10th 2015 - 00:25 UTC

  Five Falklands' oil companies accused of violating Argentine law and UN resolutions

  

  Argentina's government on Thursday formally accused five oil companies of conducting illegal exploration work off the British-ruled Falkland Islands, which Buenos Aires claims as its own. The companies are Britain's Rockhopper Exploration plc, Premier Oil plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd; Houston-based Noble Energy Inc.; and Italy's Edison International SpA, Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

• Thursday, April 9th 2015 - 07:01 UTC

  U.S. should back the Falkland Islanders’ Right of Self-Determination at the Summit of the Americas

  

  By Luke Coffey and Nile Gardiner, Ph. D. (*)
  
  The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, on April 10–11, 2015. In the past, Canada has been alone in supporting the Falkland Islanders’ right of self-determination in the OAS.

• Thursday, April 9th 2015 - 04:24 UTC

  Royal Dutch Shell buys BG Group for £47 Billion. Becomes main foreign oil producer in Brazil

  

  Oil and gas company Shell has agreed to buy British rival BG Group for the equivalent of 70 billion dollars, making Europe's largest oil company the pre-eminent player in global natural gas and adding world-class fields in Brazil. The deal may signal a new wave of mega-mergers as the energy industry tries to adapt to lower prices.

• Thursday, April 9th 2015 - 02:45 UTC

  With the end of commodities prices 'super-cycle', UN panel lowers Latin American growth forecast to 1%

  

  The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has revised downward its economic growth projection for the region in 2015, forecasting a 1.0% increase in the regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the United Nations organization said today in a press release.

• Thursday, April 9th 2015 - 01:35 UTC

  Brazil inflation soars as electricity rates go up 22% in March and 60.42% in the last 12 months

  

  Consumer prices in Brazil picked up in March, putting the 12-month rate at the highest level in more than eleven years, highlighting one of the main challenges facing Latin America's largest economy in the year ahead. The rolling 12-month IPCA was up 8.13% through March, up from 7.70% in February, remaining well above the central bank's 6.5% ceiling. In the first quarter of the year, prices have risen 3.83%, while the 12-month figure marked the highest level since December 2003, when it reached 9.30%.

• Wednesday, April 8th 2015 - 14:44 UTC

  Argentina's few friends in the world; China and Russia, Cristina Fernandez foreign policy priorities

  

  Argentina's foreign policy, under president Cristina Fernández, has new priorities, China and Russia, according to columnist Joaquin Morales Solá, one of the outstanding political analysts of Argentina. This means a radical change from democratic Argentina (since 1983) when the interests of the country were targeted in Latin America, particularly Brazil, Europe and the US, although the importance of the short list varied according to the different elected presidents.

• Tuesday, April 7th 2015 - 22:40 UTC

  Falklands oil exploration rig moves to Isobel Deep, following Zebedee drilling success

  

  Following its success with the Zebedee drill, the rig Eirik Raude is moving a short distance to start the second well of the latest Falkland Islands exploration campaign. The next target of the current four prospects exploration campaign is Isobel Deep, later followed by Jayne East and finally Chatham.