Falkland islands dispute escalates
Argentina announces fresh oil-drilling plans
Spanish-Argentine oil group Repsol YPF announced oil drilling plans yesterday off the disputed Falkland Islands, in a move likely to complicate a sovereignty row with Britain.
The drilling will take place within Argentine territorial waters, "far from the disputed waters" around the British-ruled islands facing duelling claims from both Argentina and Britain, a spokesman for the company said.
The project went almost unnoticed when it first announced in late December, but tensions are threatening to spill over between London and Buenos Aires after three British oil companies announced drilling plans off the archipelago held by Britain since 1833.
Those plans aim to determine the oil potential of the British waters, with estimates they could be home to somewhere between 13 and 60 billion barrels of oil.
British oil exploration firm Desire Petroleum this week started drilling in the disputed area, triggering tensions between Argentina and Britain, which fought a short war over the islands in 1982.
Rockhopper, another British company, will go next, drilling in the Sea Lion sector.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner signed a decree last week ordering any ship passing through Argentine waters to request permission before going to Islas Malvinas, as the islands are known in Buenos Aires.
Her foreign minister, Jorge Taiana, pressed UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to intervene in the row so that Britain abstains from "further unilateral acts."
Britain, through its ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant, hit back by reaffirming its sovereignty over the islands, saying it was "underpinned by the principle of self-determination as set out in the UN Charter."
Repsol will be the lead operator in its drilling efforts, with a 33 per cent stake in the exploration consortium. It plans to invest around €100 million for the effort.
Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and Argentina's Panamerican Energy will also each hold one third of the consortium.
The British Geological Society estimates that 60 billion barrels of oil might lie in the waters around the archipelago, which are located 450 kilometres off the Argentine coast, but many analysts believe this figure is optimistic.