
Cecilia Malmstrom, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, will be heading the mission tasked with examining border controls imposed on Gibraltar by Spain while a second mission will address the ‘customs dimension’ issue, the European Commission has confirmed. British authorities will be involved in the EC probe of the Gibraltar frontier as will Spanish officials but no date for the visit has been set though it is expected within a few weeks.

The sovereignty issue should be left aside and talks should concentrate on the business opportunities offered by the oil industry in the Falkland Islands, said lawmaker Dick Sawle during an interview with AP in Brazil where he is on a week long visit of business and political contacts.

It's time to step out from my 'normal' role as the 'energy expert' and make a comment or two on the markets in general, just as a professional trader who's seen quite a bit in his almost 3 decades of daily experience with capital markets and the way they act. Patterns emerge that aren't foolproof, but they've served well over the years and they are making some very visceral noises to me, even observing the action at longer range on vacation.

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.

Falkland Islands lawmaker Dick Sawle is expected next week in Brazil where he will be meeting representatives from the business community, students’ organizations and share lunch with a group of members of Congress, announced British ambassador in Brasilia Alex Ellis.

Four London AIM listed oil companies carrying out exploration work in Falkland Islands waters have been barred from operating in Argentina. The measure affects Borders & Southern Petroleum, Desire Petroleum, Argos Resources and Falkland Oil and Gas.

Argentina's government this week awarded a 4 billion dollars contract for the construction of two hydroelectric dams to a consortium led by China Gezhouba (Group) Co. and which includes Argentine firms Electroingenieria SA and Hidrocuyo SA.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has not yet discussed raising gasoline and diesel prices to support state-run oil producer Petrobras, said her spokesperson in response to local media reports on Thursday.

Brazil's central bank announced a currency-intervention program on Thursday that will provide 60 billion dollars worth of cash and insurance to the foreign-exchange market by year-end, a move aimed at bolstering the country's currency, the Real which has slipped to near five-year lows against the dollar.

The Falkland Islands Government notes the update provided by Premier Oil today (Thursday) regarding the progress of the Sea Lion oilfield development in the North Falkland Basin, and “supports the proposed phased development concept which will help mitigate local infrastructure and capacity pressures during peak development activity”.