[Shasown]

An oil field discovery in the Falklands was hailed yesterday as potentially the biggest discovery of its kind since North Sea Oil. Shares in Rockhopper exploration soared 52 per cent yesterday as the company said it expected to pump out at least 242 million barrels of oil from the 'Sea Lion' well - the expedition's first major oil find.And some predicted there could be millions more barrels of oil lying untapped in the area - sparking hopes that the region could hold as much oil as the North Sea.

Experts yesterday said it was highly unlikely the oil field could be sitting in isolation.

'Our analysis of the data from the Sea Lion well suggests that there is significant potential upside on our acreage,' Rockhopper said in a statement yesterday.

Commercial production could lead to an economic boom for the remote British territory, which is home to about 3,000 people.

But the news is sure to spark tensions in the region.

Argentinia, which invaded the British territory in 1982, has vowed to block British oil-drilling projects in the islands.

In 2007 the Argentinian government scrapped an oil agreement which would have entitled it to a share of the spoils.

And any drilling in the region is likely to come under intense scrutiny following the disastrous BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...#ixzz0q4iyaIXp

Looks like those oil storage tanks at Mare Harbour, East Falkland may actually get used now. Well done Maggie.