Argentina has intensified its campaign against the Sea Lion oil project by issuing criminal prosecution threats against executives at Rockhopper Exploration, which leads the venture alongside Israeli company Navitas. Buenos Aires argues the offshore drilling breaches a 1976 United Nations resolution urging both countries to refrain from unilateral actions regarding the contested territory. The escalating legal pressure has already prompted US contractor Halliburton to withdraw from the venture and forced other commercial partners to hide their identities. The UK counters that the maritime tribunal lacks jurisdiction and that halving the project would permanently eliminate a projected £8bn l…
Key points
The Sea Lion oil project is projected to double the gross domestic product of the Falklan…: The Sea Lion oil project is projected to double the gross domestic product of the Falkland Islands and generate an £8bn revenue uplift.
Argentina contends the unilateral drilling operations violate a 1976 United Nations resol…: Argentina contends the unilateral drilling operations violate a 1976 United Nations resolution concerning the unresolved sovereignty dispute over the islands.
The United Kingdom maintains that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea posse…: The United Kingdom maintains that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea possesses no legal jurisdiction over the dispute.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The Argentinian government threatened a British businessman involved in an offshore Falkland Islands oil project with jail, the Guardian can reveal.
Sam Moody, the chief executive of Rockhopper Exploration, and his company’s chief financial officer received the correspondence this autumn as Buenos Aires began ramping up its rhetoric over the British overseas territory.
“As recently as 1 September 2026, Argentina wrote to me and Rockhopper’s chief financial officer personally threatening us with criminal prosecution, imprisonment and fines under its domestic legislation,” Moody said.
The disclosure was made in a witness statement submitted by the UK to the international tribunal for the law of the sea (Itlos) before two days of hearings that were held this week. The sealed document was made available for viewing after an application by the Guardian.
Argentina is seeking an order from Itlos for the urgent suspension of drilling at the Sea Lion offshore oil project north of the Falklands, which is being led by Rockhopper, a British firm, and Navitas, an Israeli company.
Buenos Aires has passed domestic legislation criminalising the project and in Moody’s…
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