Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Os recursos energéticos das ilhas Malvinas e sua relação com o conflito Anglo-Argentino

1991; PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO; Volume: 13; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1982-0240

Ana Margheritis,

Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

The interest in the natural resources of Malvinas Archipelago and the adjacent water was present, either implicitly or explicitly, in the Anglo-Argentinian dispute throughout the last two decades. Although hydrocarbon was the center of private and state attention in the 1970's, the ichthyic resources seem to be outstanding today. This article intends to provide explanations for this change of attitude in respect to the energetic resources and to evaluate the future possibilities for production. Therefore, the main events since 1970 were identified, according to the information on the matter of hydrocarbon in this area obtained from the following sources: a) the scientific studies and technical opinion of the specialists in respect to the existing potential; b) the U.N. annual documents referring to the Malvinas issue; c) the daily records of the congressional sessions which register the Argentinian and British debates on that issue, and d) the news in the newspapers which inform about the opinion of the actors involved and the activities of the private firms dedicated to the production of oil in the region. The conclusions indicate that in the last decade a series of factors interconnected to relegate hydrocarbon to a clearly secondary role, some of which are: the consequences of the armed conflict; the discouraging and hardly accurate information about the real size of the mines; the enormous costs which were necessary for its extraction; the international market conditions for oil; and the lack of an Anglo-Argentinian political agreement which could put an end to the uncertainty over the exploitation regime of natural resources in the area. In the long run, these variables can be enhanced, but presently it is obvious that the energetic resources are not part of neither potential investors in the islands.