RE: North Sea ship to drill Falklands’ first oil well8 Dec 2025 05:52
Full report by Jonathon Leake on page 80 of today’s Telegraph
North Sea ship to drill Falklands’ first oil well
Islanders can look forward to ‘financial and political security’ as operator awaits final approval for go-ahead
JONATHAN LEAKE
THE Falkland Islands is set to open its first major oil field using a North Sea drilling ship, with hopes of unlocking a windfall equivalent to £1m per islander.
Navitas, the lead operator of the Falklands field, told investors it had signed contracts to move the Aoka Mizu floating production vessel from Shetland to the Falklands and plans a formal “final investment decision” this month.
In a note to investors, the company said it had now won approval “in principle” from the Falkland Islands government and was working to get final approval for its plans.
Once deployed, the Aoka Mizu will drill up to 23 wells in the first stages of the development.
The Falkland government said it was keen for drilling to get under way. A spokesman said extracting the oil was “a political and community priority for the Falkland Islands”. He added: “If a hydrocarbons industry is successfully established it will provide transformative opportunities for the people of the Falkland Islands, leading to financial and political security.”
Estimates suggest the extractable oil in Falkland waters is worth at least $1.3bn (£975m), equivalent to about £1m for each of the 4,000 islanders. The exact share of revenues between private developers and the local government is not yet clear.
Moves to exploit the natural resources come even as Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, bans exploration in UK waters.
Green for go Miliband to wave through hundreds of new plants
Hundreds of green energy schemes that have been battling to get grid connections, sometimes for years, will today be handed slots.
Together they will add more than a third of generating capacity to the national grid by 2035.
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, said the clean power projects were essential for the UK to decarbonise its power system by 2030.
He said: “Every solar farm, wind farm or battery storage facility we connect to the electricity grid brings us closer to clean, home-grown, power that we control – so we can get bills down for good.”
The move will anger hundreds of rural communities, which accuse him of net zero zealotry.
Britain has controlled the Falklands since 1833 apart from a brief spell in 1982 when they were invaded by Argentina and then taken back by the UK. Inhabitants are British citizens and the UK has responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs.
However, the islands are a British overseas territory that governs itself and, as a result, Mr Miliband’s ban on drilling does not extend to them.
A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: “We have been clear that any decision on this issue is a matter for the Falkland Islands government and the private companie
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