La guerre des Malouines dans les relations internationales

Dix-septième partie - Les négociations depuis la guerre entre les deux nations
The search for Falkland oil began in 1998, when a consortium of big
companies drilled a cluster of six wells. Five showed the presence of oil, and
one even brought it spurting to the surface.
It was estimated that the area might hold 60 billion barrels of oil - equivalent
to the North Sea's estimated original reserves - all within the Falkland'
"economic zone", which stretches 200 miles from its coastline.
Despite this potential, the companies concluded that the discovery was not
commercially viable at that time, as the price of oil - at one point, just $10 a
barrel - was too low to cover the high extraction costs.
However, five small-scale exploration companies continued to operate in the
area, carrying out probes of the seabed to try to gather more information
about the location and quantity of oil.
They do not have the resources to drill for oil themselves, but their results
have been promising enough to attract, once again, the attention of the larger
companies. And with oil prices last week hitting a record $106 a barrel,
drilling around the Falkland is now a far more attractive proposition.
Last month Desire Petroleum, one of the smaller operations, announced that
it had linked up with a major, so far unidentified, company. It is planning to
bring a floating rig to the Falkland to start drilling by the autumn.
This deal follows a similar agreement between Falkland Oil & Gas and BHP
Billiton in October, which will enable drilling in a different area.
Dr Phil Richards, from the British Geological Survey, which has been
advising the Falkland' government, sounded a note of caution, however.
"There's no way of knowing how much oil is down there until drilling starts,"
he said. "It may be a total success or a total failure, or it could be somewhere
in between."
Les habitants des Malouines deviendraient alors aussi riches que les milliardaires des
Emirats Arabes Unis. On note toutefois que ces découvertes ont des effets bénéfiques pour les
habitants, le développement économique déjà bien amorcé avec les sources émanant de la pêche,
se manifeste dans le paysage avec la construction de 350 nouvelles habitations. Le souhait des
habitants devant ces nouvelles opportunités financières est de développer le confort : développer
l’hôpital, les écoles. Le directeur du journal local explique d’ailleurs que la population
souhaiterait voir un cinéma, un bowling s’installer. Tous les rêves sont permis. Seulement,
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