Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which (a) public and (b) private bodies are responsible for the (i) assessment and (ii) issuing of licenses for oil exploitation in the Falklands Islands.

Oil exploration in the Falkland Islands is governed by the Falkland Islands Offshore Minerals Ordinance of 1994. Subject to this Ordinance, and with the consent of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the British Government appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands may, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, grant to any person a licence for the purposes of exploration or production in the controlled waters, or in the sea-bed or subsoil thereof, of the Falkland Islands.