Argentina has launched legal action at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, seeking to halt oil and gas exploration north of the Falkland Islands in an escalating dispute with the United Kingdom.
Buenos Aires said the application aims to block activity it claims was authorised "illegally" by the UK. Argentina's Foreign Affairs Minister Pablo Quirno announced the move on X, saying the government was requesting the tribunal issue a number of orders against the UK, including a halt to new exploration permits.
The application, according to the Argentinian government, "seeks to preserve Argentina's sovereign rights over its continental shelf and prevent activities authorised unilaterally and illegally by the United Kingdom." Buenos Aires also argues that the marine environment of disputed maritime areas is protected by international law.
The legal action comes a fortnight after President Javier Milei demanded the scrapping of the Sea Lion oilfield project, a joint venture between British company Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum. Both companies have insisted they hold valid licences issued by Britain.
The Sea Lion oilfield lies around 130 miles (209 km) from the Falkland Islands and contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The field is expected to begin production in 2028, potentially generating significant revenues for the islands' roughly 3,500 inhabitants. The Falkland Islands government extended exploration licences last month, though such licences must be signed off by the UK Foreign Secretary.
UK Foreign Office minister Uma Kumaran criticised what she called an "escalating campaign" from Argentina against companies operating in the Falklands, and announced new protections for those firms. She accused Buenos Aires of "economic coercion" against the people of the Falkland Islands.
"We will do whatever it takes to support them," she told the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Kumaran also stated that the tribunal application "does not invalidate licenses issued by the Falkland Islands government, alter the islands' regulatory authority, or require lawful hydrocarbon development activities to cease."
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: "Argentina's attempts to intimidate businesses and individuals engaged in legitimate commercial activity are unacceptable. Companies should be free to make lawful commercial decisions without the threat of political coercion."
The UK government said it will engage with the Hamburg-based tribunal, an independent judicial body responsible for applying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, but intends to resist Argentina's claim firmly. Officials said the aim was to respond robustly to Argentina's latest move while defending what the UK regards as legitimate economic activity.
The government is also introducing measures under the Protection of Trading Interests Act to shield companies from any extra-territorial impact of Argentine laws, following Milei's earlier threats to impose economic sanctions on firms exploiting oil near the islands.
Kumaran described remarks Milei made at the UN General Assembly last month as "inflammatory." At that address, Milei criticised the UN for failing to act on the Falklands sovereignty question, calling it "a useless organisation" that only serves "arrogant parasites dressed up as well-intentioned bureaucrats."
The dispute heightens long-standing tensions between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas. More than four decades after a British military task force ejected Argentine forces that had invaded the territory, Argentina has continued to assert its claim to sovereignty, with successive governments pursuing it with varying degrees of diplomatic and political pressure.
UK officials believe the current Argentine leadership is deliberately escalating the dispute ahead of elections next year.
