Argentina threatens legal action against UK over Falkland Islands oil exploration

Argentina's president has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the British government unless it halts oil exploration work off the coast of the Falkland Islands.

In a social media post on Monday, President Javier Milei set a two‑week deadline for the Sea Lion oilfield project, a joint venture involving Israeli and British companies, to be discontinued.

Both parties insist they hold valid licences issued by Britain, but Milei argues that the project is an illegal plundering of Argentine resources.

The demand comes amid long‑standing tensions over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas in Argentina), renewed stronger after the 1982 war when a British task force expelled Argentine forces from the archipelago.

Milei warned that if the deadline is missed, he has instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration and bring the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.

The 1975‑ruled tribunal adjudicates disputes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Milei also criticized the United Nations for inaction over Falkland sovereignty during his final remarks at the General Assembly.

Wes Streeting, the UK Defence Secretary, replied that Argentina lacks the capacity to reclaim the islands by force.

The Sea Lion oilfield, located about 130 miles (209 km) from the Falklands, is estimated to hold 1.7 billion barrels of oil. It is slated to begin extraction within two years by Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum.

A 2013 referendum in the islands saw 99.8% of voters choose the status of a British overseas territory—over 49,000 votes. The 1982 invasion sparked a 74‑day conflict that claimed 255 British military lives, three islander lives, and 649 Argentine troops.