- Title: ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires threatens to take Britain to court over Falklands oil row
- Date: 8th May 2010
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SAN MARTIN PALACE ARGENTINE FLAG
- Embargoed: 23rd May 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: International Relations,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVAEXUMKMY39LKUNUCY9XO85HB2O
- Story Text: Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana warned Britain on Thursday (May 6) that the South American country was willing to go to international court over offshore oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands, which the two countries went to war over in 1982.
"We, on previous occasion, have stressed the illegality of all activity realized without Argentine authorization on the continental platform that has natural not renewable resources that are the property of the Argentine people. We reiterate to the British government that authorized this exploration and the company that undertook it that not only will we denounce them in all the international forums but we will utilize all the resources that international law provides to defend our rights and the property of Argentines," Taiana said.
British oil company Rockhopper Exploration recently announced that it believed it had made an oil discovery in the North Falkland Basin, the first oil find of a controversial exploration program in the Falkland Islands.
The islands, which are called the Islas Malvinas in Spanish, have been under British control since 1833.
Nearly three decades after the brief Falklands war that killed almost 1,000 people, tensions over the islands continue to simmer. Indications that there could be large oil reserves around the Falklands have raised the stakes in the sovereignty dispute. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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