The Falkland Islands stand to benefit from an enormous $176bn (£111.7bn) tax windfall from oil and gas exploration, according to a major new report.
A study to be handed to the UK Government this week will lay bare the potential riches on offer from drilling in waters within the 200-mile exclusion zone set up during the 1980s Falklands War to mark the boundaries of British territory.
A group of UK-listed companies is involved in exploring four major prospects this year, with the largest, Loligo, potentially holding more than 4.7bn barrels of oil. By comparison Catcher, the biggest discovery in the North Sea of the past 11 years, is believed to hold only 300m barrels.
The report by oil and gas analysts at Edison Investment Research predicts that if all four prospects were drilled, the potential tax riches are likely to reach just shy of $180bn.
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