
Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd updated investors on its proposed merger with Desire Petroleum (DES) Wednesday lunchtime, signaling the combination should be finished by 19 December.

France's Total will lead a 1.2 billion dollars project to produce natural gas off the coast of Tierra del Fuego in the extreme south Argentina. In partnership with Wintershall AG and Pan American Energy LLC, they will drill as deep as 5.5 kilometers in the Vega Pleyade field, according to Javier Rielo who heads the project.

Kenya will start pumping its first commercial oil next year and begin exporting in 2016, but this is just the opening salvo: new discoveries in recent months and fast-track new well development make Kenya the darling of East Africa from an investor’s perspective.

Argentina's flag carrier Aerolineas Argentinas amd Boeing have completed an agreement for 20 Next-Generation 737-800 airplanes, an operation valued at 1.8 billion dollars (list price) which is seen as an effort by the Argentine government to modernize its fleet and increase passenger satisfaction.

Brazil sold production rights to develop the giant offshore Libra oil area to a consortium led by Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA in an auction with a single bid on Monday. The auction in Rio do Janeiro took place amid strict security measures with hundreds of police forces clashing with protestors.

Noble Energy the US oil company involved in hydrocarbons exploration in the Falkland Islands has already purchased a temporary dock facility, is looking for a rig to start exploratory drilling in early 2015 and next month begins additional 3D seismic surveying.

A highway, decades in the making, will finally open in Brazil offering a shortcut through the Amazon jungle to north-eastern waterways for the growing corn and soybean trade. The BR-163 highway connecting Mato Grosso state's soy belt to two key river ports will boost grain exports by some 3 million tons next year, offering a bit of relief to congested ports in the southeast, where most shipments originate.

Brazil is pushing ahead with a planned one billion dollars purchase of anti-aircraft missile batteries from Russia in a deal that will cement a strategic defence partnership between the two BRICS nations, the Brazilian Defence Ministry said.

The Uruguayan government rejected on Wednesday Argentina’s ultimatum referred to the UPM (former Botnia) pulp mill production expansion, and doubled the bet by proposing a reform of the shared River Uruguay Statute to increase environmental impact standards but also include both margins of the waterway.

A visiting delegation from the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce heard on Monday from the Vice-Chairman of the Uruguay-British Chamber of Commerce, Guillermo Wild, that Uruguay offered unrivalled opportunities for trade and access to Latin American markets.