BUENOS AIRES — Argentine President Javier Milei says he will send Congress emergency legislation to sanction oil companies developing an offshore field near the Falkland Islands, escalating a sovereignty dispute with Britain that has simmered since the two countries fought a war over the islands in 1982.
In a televised address, Milei vowed tougher penalties for "unauthorized" drilling around the islands, aimed squarely at the Sea Lion project, an estimated 1.7-billion-barrel oilfield about 140 miles north of the Falklands operated by Tel Aviv-listed Navitas Petroleum, with London-listed Rockhopper Exploration among its shareholders. The bill, which Milei called a "national sovereignty defence" measure, would extend penalties to suppliers, shareholders and directors tied to the project and could bar those companies from operating in Argentina at all. Milei also pledged more resources for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego.
"The Falkland Islands are Argentinian, historically and legally. There is no debate," Milei said, adding that Argentina risked losing its window to act: "If we fail to act, within a few months, they will possess the physical capacity to take the oil." He dismissed arguments that the islands' roughly 3,000 residents have a right to self-determination, and said he was seeking a "consensus solution" along the lines of Britain's 1997 handover of Hong Kong.
Markets React, London Pushes Back
Rockhopper shares fell 6% and Navitas dropped 2% on the announcement, according to CNN. Both companies issued a joint statement saying they hold valid licenses from the Falklands' own government, with Britain's backing, and that work would continue.
"The Islands are British and will remain so because that is the overwhelming position of the Islanders."
Ed Miliband, U.K. Foreign Secretary
Milei's escalation follows comments from President Trump suggesting Washington could revisit its long-standing position of declining to take a side on the islands' sovereignty, even as it accepts de facto British rule, an opening Milei has seized on repeatedly this month, according to NPR. Britain has controlled the Falklands since 1833; in a 2013 referendum, more than 99% of islanders voted to remain a British overseas territory. The 1982 war between the two countries killed 645 Argentine and 255 British service members.
Milei's sovereignty bill is expected to reach Argentina's Congress within days. Investors are watching for whether London or Washington responds with countermeasures of their own, while Rockhopper and Navitas have given no indication they plan to pause work on Sea Lion, which is not due to begin producing oil until 2028.
