Legal action concerns the Sea Lion oilfield, which lies approximately 220 kilometres north of the Falkland Islands
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The Argentinian government has sought legal action against the UK to stop the nation from exploring an oil and gas field north of the Falkland Islands.
On 28 September, Milei gave the UK two weeks to stop the hydrocarbon project or face legal action. After the deadline passed this week, Argentina has requested provisional measures from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, where it will seek a ruling that the UK must stop exploiting oil and gas resources on the Sea Lion oil field.
The Sea Lion oilfield is about 220 kilometres north of the Falkland Islands, and contains about 1.7 billion barrels of oil. It was discovered back in 2010 by a semi-submersible drilling unit.
The project, if it went ahead, could triple the GDP of the Falklands – which currently relies on fishing and tourism – and is hoped to produce up to 50,000 barrels per day across 35 years.
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Two oil companies – British Rockhopper Exploration and Israeli Navitas Petroleum – say they have valid licenses. However, Argentinian president Javier Milei has begun criminal proceedings against both, saying the project is ‘the illegal plundering of our resources’.
‘In the face of Argentina’s increasingly aggressive efforts to pressure companies associated with the development, we are grateful that the UK Government has made its position clear; that it will robustly defend the Falkland Islands’ right to pursue lawful economic development,’ said Navitas Petroleum chief executive Ian Ramsey.
The field is expected to start pumping oil and gas in 2028, but the Argentinian government says it ‘seeks to preserve Argentina’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and prevent activities authorised unilaterally and illegally by the United Kingdom’.
Despite this, the UK government continues to assert that the Sea Lion oilfield is lawful.
‘The UK’s support for the Falkland Islands is steadfast. Argentina’s attempts to intimidate businesses and individuals engaged in legitimate commercial activity are unacceptable. Companies should be free to make lawful commercial decisions without the threat of political coercion,’ said Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.
‘We will always stand up for the Falkland Islanders, their right to determine their own future, and their right to pursue legitimate economic development,’ Miliband continued.
This week (13 October), Britain appealed to INTERPOL to reject Argentina’s requests to arrest individuals involved in the oil project.
Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in the nation, dismissing a referendum back in 2013 that saw 99.8 per cent of its residents voting to remain a self-governing British overseas territory.
