Falkland Islands

• Tuesday, February 16th 2010 - 19:30 UTC

  Argentina demands prior approval for vessels sailing to Falklands

  

  The Argentine government made public Tuesday a decree that requires prior approval for ships sailing between Argentina and the Falkland Islands. The approval will be needed for vessels travelling “or carrying goods directly or indirectly” between the mainland and the Islands, announced cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez during a press conference at Government House.

• Monday, February 15th 2010 - 20:13 UTC

  FOGL/BHP Billiton sign deal to drill several wells in East Falklands basin

  

  Falkland Oil and Gas, FOGL announced Monday it signed a deal will Desire Petroleum to use the “Ocean Guardian” rig to drill the first ever exploration well in the East Falklands Basin on the Toroa prospect, which is expected to happen during the first half of 2010.

• Saturday, February 13th 2010 - 03:13 UTC

  Argentina plans “insecurity” for Falklands oil exploration and is tracking the rig

  

  The Argentine government is looking for mechanisms to sanction all those vessels that somehow have participated in the Falkland Islands oil exploration logistics. Operations are set to begin next week with the arrival of the “Ocean Guardian” oil rig.

• Friday, February 12th 2010 - 19:37 UTC

  Falkand Islands: Seismic contractor moves in on unlicensed acreage

  

  AS the Ocean Guardian oil rig is scheduled to arrive in Falklands waters next week, a UK-registered start-up seismic contractor is aiming to carry out a speculative 6,000km multi-client 2D shoot on unlicensed acreage in Falklands waters.

• Friday, February 12th 2010 - 04:41 UTC

  Argentina will take the Falklands’ oil drilling case to United Nations

  

  Argentina will be taking the case of oil exploration in Falkland Islands waters by private companies licensed by the Islands government to the United Nations, but not to the International Court of The Hague as had been suggested since the London/Buenos Aires dispute resumed a few weeks ago.

• Thursday, February 11th 2010 - 19:16 UTC

  Barclays’, Argentina’s debt swap operator accused of oil interests in Falklands

  

  Two Argentine solicitors announced they will be pressing criminal charges against the Ministry of Economy for having contracted Britain’s Barclays’ bank for a major sovereign defaulted bonds swap and this financial institution is “a shareholder of Desire Petroleum, the oil company which is poised to begin exploration operations this month in Malvinas waters”.

• Thursday, February 11th 2010 - 18:08 UTC

  Argentina blocks vessel involved in Falklands operations

  

  Argentina blocked Wednesday a ship from leaving a Techint Group plant after it traveled to the Falkland Islands without government permission, the Argentine Foreign Office said. The “Thor Leader” is docked in Techint’s Campana plant carrying a cargo of 7.099 tons seamless pipes, the government office said in a statement.

• Tuesday, February 9th 2010 - 23:53 UTC

  Norwegian company contracted for major Falklands’ drilling program

  

  Norway’s AGR Petroleum Services (AGR) will begin a significant drilling campaign, valued at more than £2 million, off the Falklands Islands this month on behalf of two operators, announced the company in Oslo.

• Monday, February 8th 2010 - 20:29 UTC

  Bid to sell the Falkland Islands as gateway to Antarctica

  

  Informal talks began this week on a proposal to market the Falkland Islands to tourists as the “Gateway to Antarctica”, according to a report from the Penguin News latest edition.

• Sunday, February 7th 2010 - 22:11 UTC

  Falkland Islands de-mining pilot project and the challenge of full clearance

  

  As a signatory to the Ottawa Convention, the United Kingdom is required under International Humanitarian Law to remove and destroy all anti-personnel landmines on its sovereign territory. About 20,000 landmines remain within clearly fenced and marked off areas on the Falkland Islands as a result of the 1982 conflict; while not all of these are anti-personnel mines, the United Kingdom is obliged to clear all the mined areas across both East and West Falklands under the Ottawa Convention.