Argentina has given Britain a two-week deadline to halt work on a major oil project in the Falkland Islands or face legal action at an international maritime court. Argentine President Javier Milei has warned his government will seek an emergency order to freeze development of the Sea Lion oilfield in the North Falkland Basin unless operations are suspended.
The ultimatum marks a sharp escalation in the long-running dispute over the South Atlantic islands, with Buenos Aires accusing Britain of “plundering” natural resources and causing “irreversible and irreparable” damage to its sovereignty claims. Mr Milei said Argentina would petition the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg for a binding injunction if work on the project does not stop within the evening.
President's statement and companies named
In a statement issued on Monday, he described Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum, the companies developing the field, as “clandestine” entities. Mr Milei said: “Argentina will not stand idly by. The Malvinas are Argentine and they are defended with facts, not words.”
The Sea Lion field lies around 136 miles north of the islands and is believed to contain up to 1.7 billion barrels of oil, according to geological surveys. The project is being developed by Israel-based Navitas Petroleum and Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration, with an oil ship, the Aoka Mizu, already being refitted ahead of planned initial production in 2028.
Legal move and international court
Rockhopper, which is listed in London, owns 35% of the oil field, with the remainder held by Navitas. Pablo Quirno, Argentina's foreign minister, described the legal move as a “historic and unprecedented step.” He warned that companies exploiting resources without authorization from Buenos Aires “must face the consequences.”
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and has the power to issue emergency orders. However, the court does not have direct enforcement powers if Britain refuses to comply with an order.
UK response and political context
The Foreign Office rejected Argentina's claims, insisting that Falkland Islanders have a democratic right to self-determination and sole jurisdiction over their natural resources. It said that the principle is guaranteed by the UN Charter and was reaffirmed in a 2013 referendum, when 99.8% of Islanders voted to remain British.
The Falkland Islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory, meaning the Sea Lion development is exempt from Ed Miliband's ban on new oil exploration in domestic British waters. The latest confrontation follows Labour's decision earlier this year to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Opposition figures in Argentina have claimed the decision demonstrated weak resolve in London and encouraged Mr Milei to pursue his claims over the Falklands. Mr Milei has also submitted legislation to Argentina's Congress proposing prison sentences of up to 20 years for companies extracting resources from waters around the islands.
The Argentine president has faced political pressure at home amid falling approval ratings and economic hardship, with critics accusing his administration of using the Falklands issue to rally public support ahead of elections. The latest threat puts the dispute over sovereignty and offshore resources on a new legal footing, with Argentina now giving Britain two weeks to halt the oil development before it seeks intervention from an international court.
