Milei threatens oil firms over Falklands drilling plans

Argentine President Javier Milei has threatened tougher sanctions against companies preparing to drill for oil near the Falkland Islands, escalating a long-running sovereignty dispute with Britain and seizing on comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that suggested Washington could reconsider its neutral stance.

In a nationally televised address from the presidential palace, Milei said Argentina would move quickly against firms involved in the Sea Lion oil project, a deep-sea field about 130 to 140 miles north of the British overseas territory. British company Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum are involved in the project, which NPR reported is expected to begin drilling in the coming months and start pumping oil in 2028.

“Argentina will not stand idly by,” Milei said. “Any further advance on the Malvinas Islands will be considered a violation of our national security.” Argentina refers to the Falklands as Las Malvinas.

The Sea Lion field contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil, according to the BBC. Rockhopper has described it as containing “highly marketable crude,” while Navitas has previously highlighted work in the Falklands including a dock, heliport and accommodation for oil workers. The BBC said it had contacted both companies for comment.

Milei called the project a “clear and present danger” and said Argentina could not allow companies to extract oil in waters it claims as its own. “If we do not act swiftly in a few months, they will have the material capacity to access the oil that lies underneath our sea — something that has never happened before,” he said.

He said his government would send legislation to Argentina’s congress to impose or tighten sanctions on companies involved in Falklands energy projects. NPR reported that the proposed penalties could extend to suppliers, shareholders and directors, and could bar companies linked to such projects from operating or signing contracts in Argentina. The BBC reported that Argentine law already allows restrictions on oil companies participating in projects considered unauthorized on the islands.

Milei also announced new funding for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina’s southernmost province, and pledged to improve telecommunications capabilities there to strengthen Argentina’s presence in the South Atlantic. “A poor country without armed forces can hardly make effective progress on its sovereignty claims,” he said.

The Falklands remain a source of tension more than four decades after Argentine forces landed on the islands in 1982, triggering a 74-day war in which 255 British military personnel, three islanders and 649 Argentine military personnel were killed. Argentina says it inherited sovereignty from Spain and that Britain has occupied the islands illegally since 1833. Britain rejects the claim and says the islanders have the right to decide their future.

In a 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, with 99.8% in favor and three votes against. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Tom Wells, said earlier this week that “sovereignty rests with the U.K., and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount,” NPR reported. The BBC said the UK government reiterated this week that Falkland Islanders “are British with a right to determine their own future.”

Teslyn Barkman, a former member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, told the BBC that Milei’s speech had “probably irked every single Falkland islander.” Speaking from Stanley, she said, “we have a burgeoning economy for a small place… we will remain forever British.”

Milei linked his latest push to Trump’s remarks. On Monday, Trump said, “I always review every position,” when asked whether his administration was reviewing its stance on the dispute. In an interview aired Thursday on GB News, Trump did not directly answer whether the United States would help Britain in a potential Falklands conflict, saying Britain had “not been there to help me” during the U.S. war with Iran.

“The United States is considering this change in position because it knows that Argentina has a reliable partner, aligned with Western values, in a strategically important position that can be a valuable ally in the decades to come,” Milei said. “There are winds of change in the world that are favourable to our claim.”