Secret of treasure islands

The Falklands is sitting on deep-sea oil riches that could turn out to be worth a fortune

Later this year, the Falklands’ 3,000 islanders should learn whether it will become the richest nation on earth. A floating oil rig will drill up to a dozen test wells deep into the sea bed around the British overseas territory. The findings should settle a decade of speculation over whether the islands lie in a particularly lucrative oil field.
Over the past few years, cutting-edge technology has been used to probe the bed for the likely location of black gold. Now the last surveys are drawing to their close, the data is being analysed and interpreted and shortlists of promising possibilities are being drawn up. The oilmen are waiting on the rig to put their educated hunches to the test.

Tim Bushell, chief executive of Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL), says: “There could be billions of barrels of oil but we can’t definitively say until we drill some wells.”

The hunt for Falklands oil has been led by four firms that, between them, employ no more than two dozen geologists, legal and financial experts – FOGL has just five employees. Although based in small offices in London, Malvern and Salisbury, each company holds licences to exploit vast swathes of the south Atlantic sea bed.

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