The Falkland Islands have been back in the news over the last week due to developments at a hydrocarbon find. The British oil exploration company Borders and Southern Petroleum this week deemed the discovery commercially viable.
The initial discovery of the gas condensate, a petrol-like light oil substance, was made back in April. At the time Borders and Southern estimated a mid-case of around 190 million barrels. After a further study of the discovery site in the last week the oil exploration company now believe the mid-case could be as high as 210 million barrels. Despite the remote and difficult location of the site they think it is technically possible and viable to extract the reserves.
Development of the hydrocarbon discovery would include a floating production and storage vessel. Based on the latest finds it is estimated that this development could be worth $1.7 billion. As only the second hydrocarbon project in the Falkland Islands it could help boost employment and investment in the area.