The Argentine government has announced it will file criminal charges against oil company Navitas Petroleum for operating in seas off the Falkland Islands.
The move came days after Argentine President Javier Milei said he would sanction oil companies drilling in the British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean.
Navitas, which is listed in Tel Aviv, holds a 65% stake in Sea Lion, an offshore oil project set to begin production in the North Falkland Basin in 2028. The Sea Lion oilfield lies around 130 miles (209 km) from the Falkland Islands and contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
Milei's office announced on Monday that it would file criminal charges against Navitas Petroleum, several of its subsidiaries, and their executives. In a statement, Milei alleged that drilling in the area would violate Argentine law banning resource exploitation without approval from Argentine authorities.
"The state will continue to pursue actions deemed necessary to counter any act which breaches the sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic," the statement said.
The announcement followed a primetime address by Milei last Thursday, in which he declared that the "winds of change" favoured Argentina's claim to the islands. He restated his government's position, saying: "the Malvinas are Argentine, historically and legally... there's no debate about that."
Milei described oil drilling in the archipelago as a "clear and urgent danger" to Argentine sovereignty. He also dismissed the result of a 2013 referendum in which 99.8% of the islands' residents voted in favour of remaining a British overseas territory, arguing that islanders were living on land "usurped" by the British and therefore "have no legitimate right to self-determination".
The British government dismissed Milei's speech and stressed that its position on the Falklands was "unwavering".
Foreign Office Minister Kirsty McNeill, speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, insisted there could be "no doubt" about the British government's commitment to the Falkland Islanders. She said that "the decision by the Falkland Islands government to pursue hydrocarbon production is a commercial decision for them to take alongside the commercial companies involved", adding that "the future of the Falkland Islands is for Falkland Islanders to determine".
Sovereignty of the archipelago has been disputed between the UK and Argentina for more than 40 years, since a British military task force ejected Argentine forces that had invaded the territory in 1982.
Milei has previously been criticised by Argentine veterans of the 1982 conflict for being "too soft" on the Falklands, which Argentines call Las Malvinas.
Navitas has not responded to the criminal charges announcement. Last week, the company said Milei's remarks were "not expected to have a material effect on the development activities of the Sea Lion Project, including the timetable for completion of the Project's development". Rockhopper, which holds a partial stake in the Sea Lion project, has also not commented. Both companies have previously stressed that Sea Lion holds valid licences from the Falkland Islands government.
