Argentina has initiated sanction proceedings against 45 individuals and companies suspected of carrying out unauthorized hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation on the Falkland Islands, which Buenos Aires calls Islas Malvinas.
President Javier Milei's office announced that the legal measures target not only active oil firms but also "their shareholders and companies that have been providing services" to facilitate the operations.
It stated that those attempting to profit by violating Argentinian sovereignty "will find in the Argentine State the full force of the law."
The government reaffirmed its claim on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands and their "corresponding maritime and insular spaces," declaring them to be Argentine "by history and by law" and that there is "no question about it."
Milei had previously warned that the Sea Lion oil project, a major offshore hydrocarbon development near the Falklands operated by British firm Rockhopper Exploration and Israel-based Navitas Petroleum, poses an imminent threat.
He noted that without swift action, foreign entities will "appropriate the oil reserves that lie beneath our sea" and deepen their "occupation."
London dismissed the sanctions as domestic politics, asserting its commitment to the islands, while Navitas and its partners said they expect to proceed with drilling under UK licensing.
The long-standing sovereignty dispute between Buenos Aires and London was recently reignited as offshore projects move toward active drilling.
The Falklands are a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) east of the Argentine coast, with a small population.
Argentina argues that it inherited sovereignty from Spain, and Britain has "illegally occupied" the islands since 1833; it calls the islands Islas Malvinas and rejects the residents’ right to self-determination as decisive.
