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Argentinian court rules against foreign oil operations in Malvinas

Xinhua, June 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Argentinian court on Saturday locked over 156 million U.S. dollars worth of goods and shares belonging to British and U.S. companies accused of illegal oil operations in the Malvinas Islands (known to the British as the Falklands).

Federal Judge Lilian Hernandez also ordered the confiscation of boats and other goods belonging to the oil companies allegedly operating illegally in Argentina's maritime area in the South Atlantic Ocean, according to local news agency Telam.

Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, Edison International SPA, Noble Energy and its subsidiary Noble Energy Falkland, Premier Oil and Rockhopper Exploration were criminally charged in April by the Argentinian government, it said.

The claim was presented mainly by Argentinian Foreign Relations Minister Hector Timerman and Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido. This caused the Office of the Public Prosecutor to intervene on April 21.

One of the grounds for the charge is that the companies began operations there without authorization. Argentina also claimed the operations will incur serious and irreparable environmental damage.

At the beginning of June, some of the companies confirmed that they would continue their explorations close to the archipelago which is currently in a territorial dispute despite the legal threats from Argentina.

Sovereignty dispute over the islands went back to 1820, when Argentina took over the islands from Spain and stationed troops there. But in 1883 the islands were occupied by Britain who claimed them as a colony administered by a London-appointed governor.

Buenos Aires has tried to retake the islands by force in 1982, sparking a 74-day Malvinas War, but only to find its forces expelled in the end, with deaths of 649 Argentinean and 255 British soldiers, and three islanders.

Though Argentina and Britain resumed diplomatic relations in February 1990, dispute over the Malvinas has continued and even exacerbated due to the booming oil exploration in the islands' waters in recent years. Endi