Argentina to seek UN arbitration over Malvinas 'Sea Lion' oil project

President Javier Milei’s government announced on Monday that Argentina will launch international arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom over oil exploration and exploitation near the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, whose sovereignty it claims.

The government said it would activate the arbitration mechanism under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in response to what it described as the “illegitimate” exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon resources on the Malvinas, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and surrounding maritime areas.

“I instructed the Foreign Ministry and our legal teams to begin international arbitration against the United Kingdom over the illegal plundering of our resources through the Sea Lion project in the North Falkland Basin,” Milei wrote in a post on X.

The Sea Lion project, operated by UK-based Rockhopper and Israel’s Navitas, is expected to begin extracting oil in 2028 from waters near the islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom.

“If the United Kingdom does not halt the illegitimate exploitation within two weeks, we will go to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,” Milei warned.

The government said that, if Britain fails to comply with the demand within its timeframe, Argentina will immediately seek provisional measures from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to protect what it considers its sovereign rights.

The move comes amid the long-running dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over sovereignty of the South Atlantic archipelago.

The Malvinas Islands, known as the Falkland Islands in the UK, are central to Argentine national identity. The country lost a war against the UK in 1982 after attempting to retake the islands under the reign of a military dictatorship.

In recent weeks, Milei has revived Argentina’s sovereignty claim, which Buenos Aires has pursued through diplomatic channels since the end of the war.

In its statement, the Office of the President cited UN General Assembly Resolution 2065, which recognised the existence of a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the UK and called on the two sides to negotiate. 

It also invoked Resolution 31/49, which Argentina says calls on both parties to refrain from unilateral actions that alter the situation in the disputed territories.

Milei’s government argues that unilateral exploitation of natural resources constitutes a violation of international law and causes “irreversible and irreparable harm” to the country’s sovereign rights. It also said the arbitration would seek to prevent the granting of new exploration permits on what Argentina considers its continental shelf.

Milei says he had been encouraged to revive the sovereignty claim by comments from his ally, US President Donald Trump, who said he could review Washington’s neutrality in the dispute.

In September, Milei sent Argentina’s Congress a bill that would toughen sanctions for the exploitation of natural resources on the islands and ordered the resumption of construction of a military base in Tierra del Fuego in the south of the country.

A judge in the region had ordered the suspension of the oil project a day earlier, following a request from war veterans and environmental lawyers.

London has defended the islanders’ right to develop their natural resources and backed the companies involved in the project.

The United Kingdom does not recognise Argentine jurisdiction over the islands, which have been under British control since 1833.

For decades, the United Nations has recognised the sovereignty dispute between the two countries and called on both sides to refrain from taking unilateral decisions concerning the territory.

– TIMES/AFP/NA