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Argentina Targets 45 in Falklands Oil Crackdown
(MENAFN) Argentina launched sanction proceedings Friday against 45 individuals and companies accused of conducting unauthorized oil exploration and drilling around the Falkland Islands, territory Buenos Aires refers to as the Islas Malvinas.
According to a statement from President Javier Milei's office, the crackdown extends beyond operating oil companies to include "their shareholders and companies that have been providing services" that support the drilling activity. The statement warned that anyone attempting to profit from what Argentina considers a violation of its sovereignty "will find in the Argentine State the full force of the law."
Buenos Aires used the announcement to restate its territorial claims over the Falklands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands, along with their "corresponding maritime and insular spaces." The government insisted the territories belong to Argentina "by history and by law," adding there is "no question about it."
Milei had previously sounded the alarm over the Sea Lion project, a large offshore drilling venture near the Falklands run by Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum. He cautioned that inaction would allow outside powers to "appropriate the oil reserves that lie beneath our sea," deepening what he called their "occupation."
London brushed off the sanctions as a matter of internal Argentine politics and reaffirmed its commitment to the islands. Navitas and its partners said drilling would move forward as planned under existing UK permits.
The decades-old sovereignty dispute has flared again as offshore drilling projects near the islands edge closer to production. The Falklands, a British Overseas Territory roughly 300 miles (483 kilometers) off Argentina's coast, has a small resident population. Argentina maintains it inherited sovereignty from Spain and that Britain has "illegally occupied" the islands since 1833 — a stance under which it dismisses residents' self-determination as the deciding factor.
According to a statement from President Javier Milei's office, the crackdown extends beyond operating oil companies to include "their shareholders and companies that have been providing services" that support the drilling activity. The statement warned that anyone attempting to profit from what Argentina considers a violation of its sovereignty "will find in the Argentine State the full force of the law."
Buenos Aires used the announcement to restate its territorial claims over the Falklands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands, along with their "corresponding maritime and insular spaces." The government insisted the territories belong to Argentina "by history and by law," adding there is "no question about it."
Milei had previously sounded the alarm over the Sea Lion project, a large offshore drilling venture near the Falklands run by Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum. He cautioned that inaction would allow outside powers to "appropriate the oil reserves that lie beneath our sea," deepening what he called their "occupation."
London brushed off the sanctions as a matter of internal Argentine politics and reaffirmed its commitment to the islands. Navitas and its partners said drilling would move forward as planned under existing UK permits.
The decades-old sovereignty dispute has flared again as offshore drilling projects near the islands edge closer to production. The Falklands, a British Overseas Territory roughly 300 miles (483 kilometers) off Argentina's coast, has a small resident population. Argentina maintains it inherited sovereignty from Spain and that Britain has "illegally occupied" the islands since 1833 — a stance under which it dismisses residents' self-determination as the deciding factor.
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