France’s EDF Buys Into Falkland Oil Wells Amid Dispute

A unit of France’s state-controlled power company bought a stake in exploration wells planned by Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd., undeterred by Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the South Atlantic islands.

Edison International SpA , a unit of EDF, will receive a 25 percent interest in Falkland Oil’s northern licenses and a 12.5 percent interest in southern licenses off the archipelago that Margaret Thatcher went to war to keep British in 1982. Edison will pay drilling costs of about $50 million and make a separate cash payment of $40 million, Falkland Oil said today in a statement.