
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.

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.

Brazilian congressional leaders within President Dilma Rousseff's coalition signed a joint letter on Wednesday pledging to support her austerity package, an unexpected sign that the ties with her unruly coalition are improving. The deal was brokered by Vice President Michel Temer on his first day as the official go-between tasked with mending Rousseff's tense relations with coalition lawmakers.

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.

Brazil’s soy exports will likely slow because a six-day fire at a nearby fuel-storage facility has restricted access to Brazil’s largest port, Santos, a port official and the soy industry association Abiove said. Authorities have agreed to restrict truck access to some terminals at the port at least through Wednesday while flames are extinguished.

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.

The British government has dismissed a reported threat from Argentina to prosecute oil firms drilling near the Falkland Islands. Argentine authorities said that the explorations “carry a huge environmental risk” and claimed that the London-registered companies, which announced last week they had found oil and gas in a remote field off the Islands, should be tried in Argentina

Carnival Corporation enters into strategic partnerships to add nine cruise ships to its fleet over a four-year period starting in 2019; shipbuilders Fincantieri and Meyer Werft to each build next-generation cruise ships for Carnival Corporation through two separate, long-term partnerships, reports Maritime Link.

A recent piece from the Financial Times points to the fact that despite the remoteness of the Falkland Islands, the fall of international oil prices and the ongoing conflict with Argentina, this has not impeded small oil and gas companies from going ahead with exploration, and hopefully before 2020 production, in the Islands waters.