Argentina targets oil company with criminal charges over Falklands drilling

The Argentine government has said that it will file criminal charges against oil company Navitas Petroleum for operating in the Falkland Islands-a move came just days after Argentine President Javier Milei said he would sanction oil companies drilling in the British overseas territory.

Ownership of the island group remains contested between the UK and Argentina more than 40 years after a British military force ousted Argentine forces that had attacked the territory in 1982.

On Thursday evening, Milei in his speech restated his government’s position on the territory saying, “The Malvinas are Argentine, historically and legally... there's no debate about that.”

The president underlined drilling for oil in the archipelago as an urgent danger to Argentine sovereignty, while the British government rejected Milei’s speech and stressed that its position on the Falklands was unwavering.

Milei’s primetime speech may have been a temporary anomaly, but hopes of reinforcing its bilateral relations with the UK were crushed but on Monday, when his office announced criminal charges against Navitas Petroleum.

Navitas currently has not responded to his latest statement but Milei’s remarks were immaterial to ongoing development activities of the Sea Lion Project including its completion timeline.

In addition, both companies have in the past emphasized that Sea Lion holds licenses from the Falkland Islands.