Almost unnoticed in the press was the fact that in January of this year Brazil refused entry for the docking of HMS Clyde, the Falklands Islands protection vessel, in Rio de Janeiro. This was the first time for a long time that such a thing had happened as Brazil and Britain regularly exchange boat visits and in fact the Navio Escola 'Brasil' is making one of its regular visits to London on August 31st.
At the time many people thought so what that Brazil is beginning to side with Argentina over the Falklands but with the increased interest in the Falklands helped when the British Geological Survey said there could be 60 billion barrels' worth of oil there, this takes on a slightly slant. Since that statement was made, Rockhopper has carried out a lot of exploratory work there and in April and May 2010, which resulted in the first oil coming to the surface from the North Falkland basin.
So what you might think but the thing is that if Rockhopper finds more oil and this is developed by them or one of the huge petrol companies like BP or Shell, where on earth will all the supplies come from. Of course if Rockhopper sells to Petrobras then that will also be an interesting twist but if it is developed by a British company and if there is an accident where will the aid come from. The UK is 8,000 miles away and with no open ports to British boats bound for the Falklands on the Atlantic side of South America, there will certainly be a lot of head scratching.
With Brazil rapidly becoming the epicentre of deep oil drilling expertise, as a result of the Pre-SALT oil discoveries, logic states that support would come from there. Maybe it is a good thing that even if oil is discovered in great quantities, it will not be commercially available for some years. This will give time for the diplomats and politicians to work out a solution, which of course could be that the Falklanders decide to go for independence.
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