Argentina's Secretary for Malvinas Islands Affairs, Daniel Filmus will be giving a conference on Friday in London on the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute with the UK and the current round of oil drilling offshore the Islands, in what Argentina considers its territory.
Three oil explorers drilling in the Falkland Islands, including Houston based Noble Energy have shelved plans to drill a second well in the south and east Falklands following the steep drop in oil prices, one of the partners said on Monday. Partners, which also include London-listed Falkland Oil and Gas (FOGL) and Edison International, said they would continue drilling in other parts of the region.
Noble Energy announced Monday that it has acquired additional acres offshore the Falkland Islands and plans to start drilling, despite opposition from Argentina’s government. The Houston-based oil company now holds a 75% interest in a license in the North Falkland Basin from Argos Resources Limited, an oil and gas exploration company based in the Falkland Islands.
Argentina has been sued in a US district court in New York in connection with its nationalization of oil giant YPF in 2012, according to court documents. The plaintiffs are two Spanish firms, and they are represented by a US law firm Burford Capital.
Brazil's State-run oil company Petrobras has purged corrupt managers and put a graft scandal behind it, while hitting record output levels from offshore deposits, President Dilma Rousseff said Thursday. The indictment of former senior executives of Petrobras the investigation of dozens of political allies of Rousseff in the multibillion-dollar kickback scandal has thrown her government into crisis and undermined investor confidence in Brazil.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.