Argentina has reacted angrily to the exploration

Falklands drilling starts amid heightened tensions

Falklands drilling starts amid heightened tensions

By politics.co.uk staff

A British rig is set to start drilling for oil around the Falklands Islands, despite bitter anger from Buenos Aires.

Argentina has formally objected to the move and tightened up shipping regulations around the region, but Britain insists the rig will only operate inside British waters.

Desire Petroleum platform Ocean Guardian has been towed from Scotland to around 60 miles north of the main archipelago for an exploratory dig.

The row over ownership of the Falklands, which the Argentineans and most other Latin Americans call Las Malvinas, flared up last week after the country’s president, Cristina Fernandez, said the UK failed to comply with United Nations resolutions.

The 1982 Falklands war claimed over 600 Argentinean and 255 British lives.