Argentine judge orders suspension of 'Sea Lion' Malvinas oil project

A judge on Wednesday ordered the suspension of a British-Israeli oil project near the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, a symbolic move as Argentina escalates its claim over the British-administered territory.

Britain and Argentina fought a brief but bitter 10-week war in 1982 over the South Atlantic islands, known to Argentines as Las Malvinas.

Wednesday's interim ruling issued by a court in Rio Grande, in southern Tierra del Fuego Province, follows a lawsuit filed by 1982 war veterans and environmental lawyers earlier this month.

The plaintiffs sought to block Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum from the so-called ‘Sea Lion’ oil field, located about 220 kilometres (137 miles) from the islands.

The judge granted the request for an injunction, ordering the companies to "refrain from initiating, pursuing, carrying out or having carried out any material actions" that would involve drilling, installing infrastructure or extracting hydrocarbons, according to a ruling.

Additionally, the suspension applies "until such time as the environmental impact assessment procedure has been conducted before the national authority competent in environmental matters."

The judge gave the parties 10 days to provide information including details about the status of the project, its contractors and its financiers.

Production on the site is due to begin in 2028.

President Javier Milei's government has also taken legal action against the project, arguing it violates a UN resolution calling for both sides to desist from unilateral actions in the islands until their dispute is resolved.

The 1982 war ended with Argentine surrender after 74 days of conflict that killed 649 Argentines and 255 British troops.

Buenos Aires has doubled down on its claim over the islands after US President Donald Trump said Washington was open to reviewing its historically neutral stance on the territory.

London has asserted the islands are British amid Milei's hardened rhetoric, and does not recognise the jurisdiction of Argentine courts over the archipelago. 

The islanders themselves voted overwhelmingly in 2013 to remain British. But Argentina rejects that outcome, arguing that the principle of self-determination does not apply to a population it considers implanted by Britain after 1833.
A 1965 United Nations resolution recognised the sovereignty dispute between the two countries and urged them to negotiate, as well as to refrain from unilateral decisions regarding the territory.