Oil found!!! another war coming over it.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/09/wfalk109.xml

Looks like oil was discovered in the Falklands Islands.
Argentina says they own the islands, England says they do.

England has the colony there, and Argentina already lost one war over the islands.

I see another war coming.

Quote:

The inhabitants of the Falkland Islands are preparing for a South Atlantic oil rush which they hope will make them among the richest people in the world.

After 10 years of frustrating delays since oil fields containing up to 60 billion barrels of "black gold" were discovered off the islands, oil companies are planning to start drilling within the next 12 months.

Quote:

Meanwhile the Argentine government, which still claims the "Malvinas", as it calls the islands, and their oil fields as its own, is also looking jealously at the situation.

A spokesman said: "We reaffirm our backing for the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute with Great Britain regarding the issue of the Malvinas."

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Intresting

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Re: Oil found!!! another war coming over it.

mysteryman wrote:

England has the colony there, and Argentina already lost one war over the islands.

It's a British Overseas Territory. But I suppose, no-one bothers calling it colony since there are the USAmerican colonies Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands as well.

Nevertheless, On December 20, 2004, the German magazine Spiegel wrote in its (English) online edition:

Quote:

60 billion barrels of oil lie under the ocean around the Falkland Islands, say experts. Twenty years after the war in the South Atlantic, the islands have struck it rich. But who does the oil belong to? Argentina continues to eye the archipeligo even as British oil companies start moving in for the drill.

On April 19, 2007 the BBC wrote

Quote:

If you believe the oil men, the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands could soon be among the richest people in the world.
[...]"I'm cautiously optimistic, in 10 years time we could well see production," says Phyl Rendell, the Falkland government's director of minerals and agriculture.

So it was already generally know that the drilling would start at some time ...

... see e.g.: Argentina ends Falklands oil deal from March 28, 2007.

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even at the time of the war, it was obvious the real dispute was over who got to control and own the mineral rights.

But while the sovereignty issue remains live, the oil companies wont go there. (They dont care which government, just so long as they know who to deal with)

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From an interesting site at the BBC (from 2007): Falklands questions answered

Quote:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OIL?
Q: Almost 10 years ago there was exploratory oil and gas drilling around the Falklands. Nothing has happened since yet apparently incredibly rich oil sources were found.

In a world where the quest for hydrocarbons is becoming more intense, with deeper waters drilled and unstable regimes dictating supply, why has nothing further happened in the islands? Does the lack of development have anything to do with the Argentinean situation?
Jon Bevan, Swansea

...and was oil the real reason there was a war?
Jim Pretty, Eastleigh, Hampshire

A: In fact a great deal has happened since 1998 when the first wells were drilled in the Falkland Islands. A group of independent companies have spent tens of millions of dollars on exploration in preparation for a second drilling phase.

This summer 3D and a 2D seismic survey have been carried out offshore and also a CSEM (Controlled Source Electro-Magnetic) survey. The new data will now be interpreted to assist companies in locating more prospects for drilling.

Low oil prices in 1998 (the price fell to as low as $11 a barrel) saw the larger companies with licences leave the area and now very high oil prices are hampering drilling due to the unavailability of drilling rigs that can be contracted to work in the South Atlantic.

It is not unusual for remote frontier areas to take several decades for exploration to proceed. The delay has not been caused by Argentine claims to sovereignty.

It is not believed in the Falkland Islands that the reason for the war in 1982 was over oil. It is believed that the war was about sovereignty of the Islands. After the invasion the UK government took the decision to retake the islands to ensure that British subjects could exercise their right to self-determination.
Phyl Rendell, Director of Minerals and Agriculture, Falkland Islands Government.

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Quote:

It is not unusual for remote frontier areas to take several decades for exploration to proceed. The delay has not been caused by Argentine claims to sovereignty.

It is not believed in the Falkland Islands that the reason for the war in 1982 was over oil. It is believed that the war was about sovereignty of the Islands. After the invasion the UK government took the decision to retake the islands to ensure that British subjects could exercise their right to self-determination.
Phyl Rendell, Director of Minerals and Agriculture, Falkland Islands Government.

It WAS[/i][/u] believed in the British Foreign Office that the Falkland Islands were no use to man nor beast (except sheep obviously) until preliminary exploration in the early '70's showed the oil potential.

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Steve 41oo wrote:

It WAS[/i][/u] believed in the British Foreign Office that the Falkland Islands were no use to man nor beast (except sheep obviously) until preliminary exploration in the early '70's showed the oil potential.

I remember vividly our private talk with the Foreign Office Minister (who visited the Islands in November 2003) about this. :wink:

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when we cruised around cape horn exactly two years ago - with a stopover in the falkland islands - we were told that there are large oil and gas deposits throughout the south-atlantic .
our falkland island guide also told us about some of the exploration work that had been done close to the islands .
she told us that the british government , argentina and chile had formed a commission that had already drawn up lines of demarkation for possible future oil and gasfields .
it seems that at the moment the exploration costs would probably exceed any revenue to be generated .
there are a fair number of articles on the internet about this subject - rather difficult for me to interpret them properly .

for the moment , explorations are taking place closer to the coastlines of argentina and chile . one large platform is being operated in co-operation with the german WINTERSHALL company (part of BASF GROUP) .

it's perhaps similar to the canadian tarsands in an economic way . the tarsands were considered far too expensive to develop until the oilprice started to jump just a few years ago .

investors would want to be assured of a good return before starting to pour billons of dollars into the south-atlantic project .
hbg

one of many articles :
SOUTH-ATLANTIC ENERGY RESERVES

(btw the islanders seemed to be a pretty happy group of people)

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

Steve 41oo wrote:

It WAS[/i][/u] believed in the British Foreign Office that the Falkland Islands were no use to man nor beast (except sheep obviously) until preliminary exploration in the early '70's showed the oil potential.

I remember vividly our private talk with the Foreign Office Minister (who visited the Islands in November 2003) about this. :wink:

Well it was an interesting meeting!

Britain initially held onto the Falklands because they were a useful re fuelling stop for the Navy going round Cape Horn.

After WW2 the islands were an anachronism. My own pet theory is that the Foreign Office, who detested Margaret Thatcher, saw an opportunity to get rid of the Islands, fall in with US S American policy of bolstering anti communist regimes, and getting rid of Thatcher too. I believe they "allowed" Argentina to invade, assuming Thatcher would have to take the blame and resign. She of course took the war option, and everything else is history. But I admit its all speculation on my behalf. But i do know the islands are not worth fighting over....except for the oil rights.... Sad

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Steve 41oo wrote:

Walter Hinteler wrote:
Steve 41oo wrote:

It WAS[/i][/u] believed in the British Foreign Office that the Falkland Islands were no use to man nor beast (except sheep obviously) until preliminary exploration in the early '70's showed the oil potential.

I remember vividly our private talk with the Foreign Office Minister (who visited the Islands in November 2003) about this. :wink:
Well it was an interesting meeting!

Britain initially held onto the Falklands because they were a useful re fuelling stop for the Navy going round Cape Horn.

After WW2 the islands were an anachronism. My own pet theory is that the Foreign Office, who detested Margaret Thatcher, saw an opportunity to get rid of the Islands, fall in with US S American policy of bolstering anti communist regimes, and getting rid of Thatcher too. I believe they "allowed" Argentina to invade, assuming Thatcher would have to take the blame and resign. She of course took the war option, and everything else is history. But I admit its all speculation on my behalf. But i do know the islands are not worth fighting over....except for the oil rights....

THey ARE worth fighting over, if you live there.
Yes, they are a long way from England, but they are still a British possession.
The people there are British citizens, with their ties to England.

Tell me something, Guam is a long way from the US, and really has no strategic value.
That being the case, should we just ignore it if a foreign power were to invade Guam?

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mysteryman wrote:

The people there are British citizens, with their ties to England.

They got granted Britis citizenship only after the Falkland War (British Nationality [Falkland Islands] Act 1983; superseded by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002).

The Falkland Islanders are of British ethnity and certainly will have ties not only to England but to Wales, Scotland and (Northern) Ireland as well.
(Especially, when you look at the background of the military [formerly] stationed there.)

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while most of the people on the falkland islands definetely have a "british" background , we noticed that there were some young fellows that must have come from south-america or africa - they were driving taxis , tour-busses or "just hanging around" the wharf having a good time .
hbg

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They found Oil In Brazil.
China and India will uphold the local people's wise decision..
Search elsewhere to sell your song.

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mysteryman wrote:

Steve 41oo wrote:
Walter Hinteler wrote:
Steve 41oo wrote:

It WAS[/i][/u] believed in the British Foreign Office that the Falkland Islands were no use to man nor beast (except sheep obviously) until preliminary exploration in the early '70's showed the oil potential.

I remember vividly our private talk with the Foreign Office Minister (who visited the Islands in November 2003) about this. :wink:
Well it was an interesting meeting!

Britain initially held onto the Falklands because they were a useful re fuelling stop for the Navy going round Cape Horn.

After WW2 the islands were an anachronism. My own pet theory is that the Foreign Office, who detested Margaret Thatcher, saw an opportunity to get rid of the Islands, fall in with US S American policy of bolstering anti communist regimes, and getting rid of Thatcher too. I believe they "allowed" Argentina to invade, assuming Thatcher would have to take the blame and resign. She of course took the war option, and everything else is history. But I admit its all speculation on my behalf. But i do know the islands are not worth fighting over....except for the oil rights....

THey ARE worth fighting over, if you live there.
Yes, they are a long way from England, but they are still a British possession.
The people there are British citizens, with their ties to England.

Tell me something, Guam is a long way from the US, and really has no strategic value.
That being the case, should we just ignore it if a foreign power were to invade Guam?

The Falkland Islands had a population of about 1500 at the time of the invasion. They were not British Citizens, as Walter has pointed out. Guam has a population of 173,000 American citizens. Look at a map, see where the Falklands are in relation to Britain and Argentina? Remember the murderous dictator Galtieri in Argentina who America supported at the time? And do you remember the paranoia about S America going "communist"? And do you know how important the Malvinas are in the Argentine psyche?

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the falklands islands in 2006 . when we stopped over there on our cruise , we found that many areas had signs posted "DANGER - MINES " .
the argentine army had mined many areas of the island . since much of the island consists of bogs , the mines had sunk too deeply to be removed either manually or by mine-sweeping machines . however they still prevent a serious threat to anyone wanting to just wander off - hence many areas are off-limits !
hbg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6105/southamericaone263ms8.jpg

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interesting hmgr thanks

Did you take the 5 minute tour of Port Stanley or the full quarter hour?

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hi , steve :

actually spent about four hours on the falkland island(s) . there was a two hour bus tour with plenty of stops along the way .
and , of course , i had to go to the postoffice to mail a postcard to myself - which arrived after we were back in canada :wink:
the visit was actually much more interesting than i had expected .
marylin , our local guide , entertained us with some great stories about life in the islands .
"we live in each others pocket ; there are no secrets here " , she said .
the local radio-station makes sure that ALL gossip is spread quickly to any listener .

you can find some more pictures (thumbnails) at the link :

FALKLAND ISLANDS

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Oil found!!! another war coming over it.

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