FINN(COM) DAILY RECORD: THURSDAY, 14 OCTOBERR 2004
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
DAVID HUDD: ENTHUSIASM FOR HIGH RISK FALKLANDS OIL
By J. Brock (FINN)
David Hudd, Deputy Head of Falklands Oil and Gas, has been talking to the media about the very tempting high-risk frontier oil entity that south of the Falklands. Sara Coburn, who asked Mr. Hudd to explain about the risk, has interviewed him on BBC 1s “Breakfast” programme.
Mr. Hudd explained that in the oil industry the area is called frontier acreage, so it is high risk. He point out that the rewards are very substantial, which is why he thinks it’s excited the City. He added that effectively the Company could have raised something like £20-million but decided £12-million was enough to get us to a stage where they would be in a position to find out if there’s something there that’s worth drilling. And, drilling activity would be scheduled for 2006/7, when Falkland Islands Oil and Gas (FOGL) would bring a major company in or fund it with their shareholders.
Business presenter Greg Wood then interviewed Mr Hudd on BBC 4’s “Today Programme”. He pointed out that in FOGL’s prospectus it says there’s potentially between 200 million and 2.5 billion barrels of oil in areas to the south and east of the Falkland Islands and asked what is the evidence for that?
Mr. Hudd said that FOGL acquired some seismic shot a number of years ago, although widely spaced it indicated the existence of eight potentially large structures which could contain those sort of quantities of oil. He continued that FOGL intend, with the money raised to carry out some further detailed seismic, to start fairly shortly to see if there’s substance to those initial findings.
Finally, CNBC’s Geoff Coppel on “Squawk Box Europe” asked Mr Hudd How should investors reconcile themselves with potential sovereignty conflict that over hang from the war that was fought between the UK and the Argentina’s over the Falklands?
Mr Hudd was adamant that the conflict should put that into context. In terms of sovereignty risk throughout the world where frontier acreage is available, he pointed out, the Falklands must rate very low down in terms of sovereignty risk. He believes is negligible, but most other countries where people take large blocks of acreage there are very serious concerns about sovereignty or concern about the government backing and seizing something of its commercial. Mr. Hudd then drew attention to the fact that Britain maintains a large military force in the Falklands. In his opinion, Argentina has not relinquished its claims the chances of them actually doing anything about it are negligible, in his view and he thinks that’s the view of her majesty government as well.
FIBS NEWS DIRECT: 14 OCTOBER 2004
ARGENTINE VETERAN’S VISIT:
An Argentine veteran of 1982, who spent almost the entire duration of the war in an observation post, is back in the Islands for the first time since then. Julio Vasquez, who was a 19 year-old conscript, is here with journalist, Carlo De la Solo, who is making a programme about the former soldier for a Buenos Aires TV Channel. I asked Julio how he felt when he heard he was going to war. (Translated reply)
“He was not a professional soldier. One year before the war, he was in the Military service like all the men in Argentina. At that moment, he was not in the Army. A few weeks before that, he was in his house as a civilian and when the war started, he was called again and he had to come here. He, as a soldier, was not very conscious of what was going on at that moment. He was young and he thought Britain was so far from here. He came without being conscious of why he was coming here. We were instruments, OK? We are not conscious of what happened. The fact of the war was pushing them and they were involved in all kinds of situations. They finally knew what was happening when Britain started to bomb them and all of the Argentine positions.
CG: How much training did you have beforehand? Did you know what to expect?
“The training was very military. There was shooting practice, the uniform and the weapons and armour and the guns. That is all.”
AWARDS SCHEME COMMITTEE:
The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme should be up and running in November after a two-month break. The last Exhibition of Silver, which took place in June this year under the old committee. At a meeting last Tuesday, Ken Newton (KN) was voted in as new chairman, taking over from Anton Livermore. He tells us about other new appointments.
KN: For Secretary, we have Amanda Morris and our treasurer is Liz Pointing and Expedition Supervisor is Rev. Paul Sweeting. And, we have three committee members, Sue Morrison, John Clifford and Jenny Judd.
SF: What sort of responsibilities do you have as Chairman?
KN: As Chairman, I chair the meetings and make sure that everybody has their say and obviously make sure everybody’s point of view is heard. At the moment, just general directing, I suppose. We as a Committee are still finalising actual responsibilities because we have various areas where we need people to liaison with. Like Rev. Paul Sweeting, who is already voted on to the Committee as Expedition Supervisor, we also need someone to look after skills, physical recreation, service and, if anybody does Gold, residential projects side of the D of E. So, that has to be worked out at the moment.
SF: So, do you actually have any students enrolled in the schemes at the moment?
KN: No, we don’t. The D of E has, in a sense, stopped in that way at the moment. But we are hoping to get it up and running again very soon. Hopefully, we will try and get more companies and other people involved in D of E. Perhaps they can sponsor a particular type of skill or physical recreation, that type of thing, or service to the community.
SF: When can people expect to see this up and running?
KN: As soon as we have certain areas clarified and sorted, things like insurance, which is obviously very important and also, we are looking at a child protection document, which we need to implement in the D of E. As soon as we have sorted them out the D of E will be up and running again. That, hopefully won’t be too long. Our next meeting is at the beginning of November. We are hoping to have these areas sorted out by then.
CHARITY EVENT:
The Royal British Legion will be hosting a charity ball on Friday, 29 October in aid of the Annual Poppy Appeal. Michael Stevens (MS), who took over the Local branch in June, tells us more.
MS: Every year the Royal British Legion globally, normally, hosts a charity ball on behalf of the Poppy Appeal. Poppy Appeal is their one massive charity appeal. It’s been going now for 60 odd years and basically, a lot of countries do endorse it. What we are doing in Stanley is having a dinner dance at the Town Hall on Friday, October the 29th. We intend to start at 1900 and it will go on till midnight. We will have dancing to big band and swing, ‘40s style. This is something we seen last year and went down particularly well. And, obviously, people have asked for a repeat. There will also be, for us Scottish folk, some traditional dancing and some formation dancing. Throughout the evening there will be a few raffles. We have got a licensed bar and we really want to dress to impress. This last year, people were in dinner suits but it was a chance for everybody to dress up and enjoy themselves. Tickets are priced at £10.00 a head and are available at Speedwell Store and Hillside. We’ve also got table plans on view there and the idea is that companies or friends can basically host a table. And, they can pay for that at either event. We do hope you will come along. We have a limited number of 200 and we had 180 last year. We are hoping this year we can maximise it. But the funds will go back to the United Kingdom to the Royal British Legion and will add to their coffers.
SF: And what will the money be used for over there?
MS: The money is used and has been used is basically for caring and campaigning for the ex servicemen in the community. The people who do serve the crown do come away injured and they need looking after. So, the funds are normally put to good use.
SF: The Royal British Legion was chartered by King Edward V in 1925.
R.I.B. FROM SOUTH GEORGIA PRESENTED TO SEA CADETS:
H. E. the Governor officially presented the Sea Cadets with an orange R.I.B. from South Georgia at a ceremony last night. We went up to the Headquarters. The Governor said:
HP: I would like to say a few words. It’s very cold outside so I am delighted to be here with the Sea Cadets again. It’s very good to see you all and a number of familiar faces and some new ones as well and to welcome some new recruits. I am particularly pleased that wearing my Government of South Georgia hat as Commissioner of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands that we have been able to make available to you this power boat, which has seen service down in South Georgia and arrived here in the Falklands a few months ago. I hope you will be able to make fairly good use of it. And, I hope that it’s going to provide you with an opportunity to engage in some new and exciting activities. So, it is a great pleasure to be with you here this evening and to have the opportunity to hand over this boat formally to the Sea Cadets. Thank you.
The Sea Cadets also received a cheque for £75.00. Founding Member, Jim Lewis, presented the cheque. The cheque came from the Royal Naval association in the UK. They knew that Jim was a founder member in the Falklands so they gave him the money to pass on.
FISHING, SHIPPING AND HARBOUR NEWS:
There are several vessels in Berkley Sound at the moment, including Reefers, Tankers and Trawlers. The MOD Charter Boat Ines is due into port tomorrow. There are 24 ships fishing in the zone. The average catch of Finfish yesterday was 15 tonnes, 13 tonnes for Hoki. The Surimi vessel is currently hauling in more than 130 tonnes daily.
(100X Transcription Service)
Argpress: 14 October 2004
Several Argentine papers: Infobae, Ambito Financiero, Clarin and the news agency UPI in Buenos Aires, and the Chilean newspaper La Tercera all commented yesterday on the publication of Falkland Islands Newsletter.
Infobae, Ambito Financiero, and Clarin (which had it only in its print version, not on its website) had relatively minor articles that nevertheless highlighted the comment in the editorial that the Kirchner government was the most hostile Argentine government over the Falklands since Galtieri in 1982. All reported that Britain's response to Argentine hostility was a stronger determination to support the self-determination and security of the Islands. The Ambito Financiero article was tiny said little more than this. But Clarin and Infobae both went on to report that Argentine pressure coincided with economic difficulties in the Islands, and Infobae mentioned the Newsletter's comment that this Argentine pressure and economic difficulty would change nothing. Both reported the Newsletter's comment that this was demonstrated in the "formidable forces stationed there". Clarin reported that the Newsletter was published by the Falkland Islands Association and that Sir Rex Hunt the Governor of the Islands during the war in 1982 was the editor (He is actually Chairman of the Editorial Committee).
Infobae and the Chilean paper La Tercera both also mentioned the Newsletter's comment that Argentine was "crime-ridden, corrupt and bankrupt" and that Argentina's own ambassador to Spain (Abel Posse, who has since been replaced in a routine move) had called his own country "On the verge of anarchy".
(100X Translation Service)
Below the full text of the editorial:
British Rebuke for Argentine Intimidation.
Argentina’s aggressive actions against the Falkland Islands have plunged relations to their lowest depths since the 1982 Falklands War ended military rule.
President Kirchner’s Government is regarded as the most hostile since General Galtieri. His hard line policies have been met with stern rebuke and strengthened British and Falkland Islands Governments’ determination to uphold Islanders’ right to self-determination and to safeguard their security. Britain’s unshakeable commitment is demonstrable in the formidable forces stationed there.
Blunt messages from Falklands Councillors, the Governor and the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires have warned Argentina it is pursuing the wrong policies in the wrong way. This concerted unambiguous message impresses upon the Kirchner Government that it is totally mistaken to believe that what the Falklands Government condemns as "blatant and unprincipled intimidation" can bully Islanders into accepting unwanted Argentine scheduled flights, or lead to sovereignty negotiations. That is out of the question.
What the British Government requires is that Argentina be a good neighbour, living in peace and constructive co-operation. Instead, Argentina is a crime-ridden, corrupt, bankrupt country, which its own ambassador to Spain recently described as "on the verge of anarchy". It petulantly blocks tourist charter flights between Chile and the Falklands and harasses legal fishing in Falklands’ waters. These antagonistic actions are unworthy of an educated democratic nation.
Argentina’s aggressive actions come at a time of economic difficulty for the Falklands. This season’s Illex squid catch is the worst on record - probably because of changes in the ocean currents around the Falklands. This has caused a serious fall in Falklands’ income. To replace this, the Government has made budget cuts and drawn on the substantial reserves it has wisely put aside in the past for just such a "rainy day". The combination of Argentine and financial pressure will change nothing. The Falklands continue to diversify economically and will not be influenced by temporary problems.
© Falkland Islands Newsletter
