Argentina's Milei threatens legal action over Falklands oil exploration

September 29, 2026 at 08:50 AM2 min

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Argentine President Javier Milei threatened legal action against Britain unless it halts oil exploration off the Falkland Islands, setting a two-week deadline for the Sea Lion project to be scrapped. He said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration if the deadline is not met. The move comes after Milei criticized the UN over Falklands sovereignty at the General Assembly.

Key Facts

President Javier Milei set a two-week deadline for the Sea Lion oilfield project to be scrapped.
The Sea Lion oilfield, about 130 miles from the Falkland Islands, holds an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum plan to begin extraction within two years.
In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to remain a British overseas territory.

The Ultimatum

Milei said that if the two-week deadline was not met, he had instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration against the UK over what he called the illegal plundering of resources through the Sea Lion Project. He warned that if the illegitimate exploitation did not end within two weeks, Argentina would take the matter before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The International Tribunal is an independent judicial body based in Hamburg responsible for applying the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Oil Project and Companies

The Sea Lion oilfield is a joint venture between Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum. Both companies have stressed that Sea Lion holds valid licences from the Falkland Islands government. The companies are due to begin extracting from the oilfield within two years.

Sovereignty Dispute Background

The comments heighten tensions between the UK and Argentina over sovereignty of the archipelago, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas. In 1982, Argentine forces landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim, sparking a 74-day war that killed 255 British military personnel, three islanders, and 649 Argentine military personnel. UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Argentina lacks the ability to take back the Falklands by force.