Those past masters of empire, the British, have found significant amounts of oil--3.5bn barrels--beneath the sea near their South Atlantic outpost, the Falkland Islands. A British submarine appropriately named
HMS Sceptre [photo off Gibraltar, First Post] arrived at the Falklands to show the flag, and remind the Argentinians it was a British nuclear submarine that sunk their aging light cruiser, the Belgrano (formerly the USS Phoenix), during the short war over the island's possession in 1982. Six hundred forty-nine Argentine soldiers and sailors, mostly conscripts, died in the conflict. Great Britian lost 225 professional servicemen. Share prices of the companies participating in the successful exploration of the North Falkland Basin have risen several percentage points in response to rumors of a find. Oil in commercial amounts was believed to be below the seabed near the islands named Las Malvinas by Argentina in the 1980s. Serious exploration began in the 90's with six test wells, of which five showed promising results. But since the price of oil in 1998 was at $10 a barrel, nothing was done to develop the reservoir. That has changed now with oil at $75 a barrel. The ocean drilling rig Ocean Guardian arrived in February from Scotland after a three month tow costing $245,00 a day. The rig will drill deeper to determine the size of the reservoir.
Now that oil reserves have been proven there is no chance Argentina's claim to the islands will be accepted by the UK. Oil is not the only reason. History favors Britain's claim. The islands were uninhabited by humans until French fishermen arrived in the 18th century. The British arrived in 1765, about 55 years before Argentina became an independent nation. Spain made various claims to Las Malvinas until Britian asserted sovereignty in 1833. The great majority of the residents want to remain under British rule. Colonialism is still alive in the 21st century.
