Spain’s Repsol, recovering from the recent seizure of YPF by the Argentine government, said an area off the coast of Brazil it is exploring with partner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. contains the equivalent of at least 1.25 billion barrels of oil.
Despite desperate attempts from Argentina to deter potential investors and increased interference in Falkland Islands’ activities the objective of an economic blockade has not been achieved, said Governor Nigel Haywood on Wednesday in his ‘state of the nation’ annual speech to the Legislative Assembly.
The political noise stirred up by Argentina over the Falkland Islands will not deter big energy firms from investing in the region if there is enough oil found to make it worthwhile, said the chief executive of exploration company Falkland Oil & Gas.
Amerisur Resources Plc, the oil and gas producer and explorer announced on Monday it has received a Prospecting Permit by Paraguay’s Ministry of Public Works and Communications for the Espartillar block in the Paraguayan Chaco.
The price of oil rose for the first time in seven days in New York after China pledged to boost the nation’s economy and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the balance between supply and demand of crude is tightening.
Germany's Wintershall, the oil and gas arm of chemicals group BASF, said on Monday it was unperturbed by the enforced nationalisation of Argentine oil company YPF, having just been awarded another oil and gas licence there.
The prospect of finding oil in Antarctica was discussed at an event in Aberdeen, Scotland last week. Professor David Macdonald from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences examined the fact and fiction surrounding claims that oil and gas reserves could exist in this area.
Spanish oil company Repsol has announced a first attempt to find oil in Cuban waters has failed. Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix said an exploratory well it drilled some 50km off Cuba was unsuccessful and would be abandoned.
President Barack Obama pledged at the G8 summit on Saturday to work with Europe on a package that balances growth with debt reduction as world leaders try to prevent the worsening Euro zone crisis from destabilizing the global economy.
The European Ambassador to Argentina, Spanish native Alfonso Díez Torres, stressed on Friday that the solution for the YPF seizure conflict would be “a negotiated agreement” between Argentina and Repsol.