Falklands Oil Project Faces Argentine Bid To Halt Drilling At Hamburg Tribunal
Argentina wants the Sea Lion oil field stopped before drilling starts in March. Britain says the case is really about who owns the islands.
HAMBURG, Nov 11 – Britain and Argentina clashed over Falklands oil at an international court in Hamburg on Tuesday. Argentina is seeking an order to halt drilling at a major new oil field before
The hearing is due to run for two days and conclude on Wednesday in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
It is the first time that substantive questions surrounding the islands have been contested in an international court. At the center of the dispute is the Sea Lion project, located in the North Falkland Basin.
Drilling is scheduled to begin in March, with oil production expected to start in 2028 and continue for approximately 35 years. The project is being led by Israeli company Navitas, in partnership with British firm Rockhopper.
Argentina is asking the court to order a temporary halt to the project while a fuller case is heard.
It argues that the oil field poses environmental risk and that Britain has violated a 1976 United Nations resolution, which called on both sides to refrain from unilateral actions while the dispute over the islands remains unresolved.
Ellie Reeves, the attorney general for England and Wales, represented Britain. She argued that a pause would effectively kill the project and cost the islanders billions of pounds that they need to secure their future.
“Devastating consequences for the Falklands people,” Reeves said, referring to Argentina’s request.
She said the islanders have a right to use their own natural resources. That right comes from their right to decide their own future, she said.
And she accused Argentina of using the case to push its old claim to the islands by the back door. What Argentina really wants, she said, is to take control of the oil for itself.
She also referred to the 1982 war, telling the court that Argentina’s armed invasion had resulted in loss of life and a military occupation.
Michael Wood, another lawyer for Britain, warned the court not to go too far. He said such urgent orders should be used only in rare cases.
If the court overreached, he said, it could lose member states.
The Guardian asked whether Britain would comply with the court’s ruling.
She said she respected the court but would not pre-empt its decision. Britain has previously said it considers such orders binding.
Argentina put its case earlier in the day. Mario Oyarzabal is the chief legal adviser to its foreign ministry. He said the roughly 3,600 people who live on the islands have no right to the resources around them.
He said Argentina respects their way of life. But he said they do not get to decide which country the islands belong to.
“These resources belong to the Argentine people,” Oyarzabal said.
He said that means all 46 million Argentines, including the 1,247 people born on the islands.
He said Argentina was ready to discuss every aspect of the dispute. But he accused Britain of refusing to engage in talks while pressing ahead with oil exploration.
He claimed that oil would help fund the British military base that enables London to maintain control of the islands.
He also spoke of the risk of a spill. If something went wrong, he said, it would be Argentina that would suffer and have to respond, not a country 12,700 kilometers away.
Britain’s lawyers said the risk of such an accident is low. They said the companies have taken steps to guard against it.
Argentina also says it has rights as the “coastal state.” Britain’s lawyers said that claim shows the case is really about sovereignty. They also asked why Argentina only went to the court in recent months.
The islands are called the Malvinas in Argentina. President Javier Milei has called the Sea Lion project unlawful. Argentine lawyers told the court that Britain’s approval of the drilling was the act of a “colonial power.”
The project could be worth a lot to the islands. It could double income per person there, with a total boost of about 8 billion pounds over its life.
The war over the islands in 1982 killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British troops and three islanders.
On Monday, Princess Anne arrived in Port Stanley, the capital of the islands, and showed her support. It is not yet clear when the court will rule.
