LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - Falkland Oil and Gas plans to continue drilling into next year, its chief executivesaid, defying legal threats made by the Argentine governmentagainst oil explorers in the Falkland Islands.
A group of oil drillers, which also include Premier Oil, Edison, Noble and Rockhopper,resumed their Falkland Islands exploration campaign in March andhave made a series of successful finds since.
However, their drilling work has angered Argentina, whichcontinues to dispute the sovereignty of the islands and launcheda domestic court case in April against executives of thecompanies involved.
"I can't go to Argentina and nearby countries. Butoperationally, this has no effect," Tim Bushell, Falkland Oiland Gas chief executive, said.
The companies are continuing their 2015 exploration campaignas planned and are counting on hiring a drilling rig at lowerrates to expand their plans into next year.
"We'll negotiate a lower rate with the rig and otherservices. We conservatively expect to get a 20-25 percentreduction," he told Reuters.
The group has currently contracted the Eirik Haude drillingrig for a six-well drilling campaign that is expected to endaround October. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by William Hardy)
