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"The government has firmly rejected the latest claim by Argentina to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, MPs have been told.

In a written statement, junior Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said the UK had "no doubt" that the Falklands belonged to the UK. ...

Mr Bryant said the Foreign Office had delivered a "note verbale" to the Argentine charge d'affaires in London to outline UK rejection of the claim.

It insisted that the Falklands, along with South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Territory, all remained firmly under UK sovereignty."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8466209.stm - 18 JAN 2010

"The Ocean Guardian has been under tow by a tug since late November when it left Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth.

AGR Petroleum Services will use the rig during a £2m oil and gas exploration project in the North Falklands Basin.

The work has involved the largest consignment of gear to be shipped from Aberdeen to the region.

About 9,000 tonnes of equipment was loaded at Aberdeen harbour for shipment to the Falklands."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8504047.stm - 08 FEB 2010

"This week, Argentina has imposed new controls on shipping to the Falkland Islands in a growing oil dispute with the UK.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday signed a decree that requires all vessels travelling between Argentina and the islands or those that want to cross Argentine territorial waters en route to the Falklands to seek prior permission.

This also applies to vessels going to the other nearby British controlled islands in the South Atlantic - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

It could make drilling in the area more complicated and expensive for foreign firms. A drilling rig from the Scottish highlands, the Ocean Guardian, is expected to arrive soon to begin oil exploration.

A government minister explicitly said the move was to protect control of "resources" in the area.

In April, Argentina formally laid claim to 1,700,000 sq km (650,000 sq miles) of ocean surrounding the Falklands - handing over 800kg of documents to the UN. The country passed a law in December claiming to own the islands and several other British overseas territories."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8520038.stm - 17 FEB 2010

"A permit will now be needed by ships using Argentine waters en route to the Falklands, South Georgia or the South Sandwich Islands - all UK controlled.

Argentina has protested to the UK about oil exploration due to begin next week.

The UK Foreign Office said the Falkland Islands' waters were controlled by its authorities and would not be affected. ...

On Tuesday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez signed a decree requiring all vessels travelling between Argentina and the islands, or those that want to cross Argentine territorial waters en route to the Falklands, to seek prior permission.

Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez said the decree sought to achieve "not only a defence of Argentine sovereignty but also of all the resources" in the area. ...

Chairman of the Parliamentary all-party Falklands group, Sir Nicholas Winterton, said the Argentine decree was "pathetic and useless" and designed simply to try to impede the economic progress of the islands."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8518982.stm - 17 FEB 2010

"A rig being towed to the Falkland Islands from Scotland should start drilling for oil and gas from next week, a company involved has said.

The Ocean Guardian has been under tow by a tug since late November when it left Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth. ...

About 9,000 tonnes of equipment was loaded at Aberdeen harbour for shipment to the Falklands.

The spokesman told the BBC Scotland news website that the Ocean Guardian - which has been contracted from Diamond Offshore Drilling - was nearing the islands.

AGR Petroleum Services, another company involved in the project, will use the rig during a £2m oil and gas exploration project in the North Falklands Basin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8519694.stm - 17 FEB 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8518982.stm - 17 FEB 2010

"A rig, the Ocean Guardian, is due to arrive by mid-February and will almost immediately begin drilling for hydrocarbon deposits 100 miles north of the archipelago. ...

A British company, Desire Petroleum, has hired the rig to drill prospects in the North Falkland basin and will later lease it to two other British companies and an Australian one – Rockhopper, and Falklands Oil and Gas; and BHP Billiton – which also have exploration contracts. They will use the rig in rotation throughout 2010.

It will be the first drilling in Falkland waters since Shell suspended exploration in 1998 after oil prices slumped to $12 a barrel.

"With the rise in oil prices and the worldwide search for new oil and gas services, it has now become more than commercially viable for this work to begin," said Ben Romney, a Desire Petroleum spokesman. "We should know by the end of the year whether or not a major extraction programme will go ahead." ...

"What they are doing is illegitimate," said Jorge Taiana, the foreign minister. "It's a violation of our sovereignty. We will do everything possible to defend and preserve our rights." ...

Under current proposals the Falklands would receive 20% of all profits and 9% of royalties on every barrel. The four oil companies involved in drilling have also promised big onshore investment, including overhauling the main port and building 350 houses.

If even a small fraction of the potential deposits are found and extracted, it would transform the per capita income of the 2,900 islanders. Revenue from fisheries licences have in the last decade given Port Stanley, once desolate and broke, the feel of a prosperous Highland village."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/07/falkland-islands-oil-britain-argentina - 07 FEB 20101

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/falklands - 17 FEB 2010

"Yesterday President Cristina Kirchner issued a decree obliging all vessels using Argentinian ports to seek a permit if they enter or leave British-controlled waters, escalating a diplomatic row with London over a prospective "black gold" bonanza. ...

A rig, the Ocean Guardian, is expected to arrive this week to start drilling 100 miles offshore. Geological surveys suggest up to 60bn barrels may lie beneath the seabed. Earlier this month Argentina lodged a formal diplomatic protest and last week it prevented a cargo ship from sailing on suspicion it was carrying oil drilling equipment to the islands. ... A British company, Desire Petroleum, has hired the Ocean Guardian rig to drill in the North Falkland basin and will later lease it to two other British companies, Rockhopper and Falklands Oil and Gas, and an Australian one, BHP Billiton."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/17/argentina-steps-up-falkands-oil-row - 17 FEB 2010

"A British company, Desire Petroleum, has hired the rig to drill prospects in the North Falkland basin and will later lease it to two other British companies and an Australian one – Rockhopper, and Falklands Oil and Gas; and BHP Billiton – which also have exploration contracts."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/17/shipping-argentina-falklands-tightened - 17 FEB 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/17/argentina-falklands-shipping - 17 FEB 2010