[Owen]

[headscratch]

I’m pretty sure the drilling that already took place in that region last year came up empty of any commercial amounts. There may be nothing there. In fact, there is probably nothing there.

[thackney]

Premier Oil is the closest to extracting oil, the waxy crude of the Sea Lion field, which is located in the North Falklands Basin (see map) and holds an estimated 400m barrels of recoverable oil. A decision on whether to develop the field is expected in early 2015.

A three-way exploration agreement has been reached for nearly ten million largely unexplored acres east of the islands. Falkland Oil and Gas (FOGL), another British firm, partnered with the region’s first two non-British energy companies: Edison (out of Italy) and the American firm Noble Energy. Borders & Southern, which found gas condensate south of the islands in 2012, is also currently searching for a partner to put more holes into the shelf. But the combination of extreme wind, powerful waves and frigid temperatures makes this a particularly harsh environment. “In the Falkland Islands, we are a long way from everything,” says Richard Winkelman, Noble’s country manager. “We know it's going to be a unique challenge for us.”

http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/02/oil-and-gas-falklands