BUENOS AIRES, March 2 (UPI) -- The British-Argentine row over the right to explore for oil in the Falkland Islands is a bilateral issue, the U.S. secretary of state said in Buenos Aires.
British oil explorer Desire Petroleum started drilling for oil in waters about 100 miles off the coast of the Falkland Islands in February.
Oil and gas explorers drilled six wells in the North Falkland basin in 1998 but market conditions caused them to delay development. Investors now see the area as a lucrative commercial opportunity.
Buenos Aires lodged a formal complaint, saying the region is occupied British territory. Cargo ships were prevented from loading cargo in early February following a Argentine protest to the British envoy to Buenos Aires
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on an official trip to Latin American countries, said Washington could help mediate the disagreement but the issue was a matter best resolved by the Argentine and British governments.
"We would like to see Argentina and the United Kingdom sit down and resolve the issues between them across the table in a peaceful, productive way," she said during a news conference Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Argentina and Britain fought a brief war over the islands in 1982. Both sides, however, have suggested the row could be solved diplomatically.
