Malvinas veterans go to court to stop oil drilling project ‘Sea Lion’ near islands

A group of Malvinas War veterans and an environmental lawyers association have gone to court in Argentina to force Israeli oil company Navitas Petroleum and British firm Rockhopper Exploration to halt an oil drilling project near the Malvinas Islands, in the South Atlantic. The filing asks the judiciary to issue an injunction to prevent potential “collective environmental damage,” arguing that the two companies plan to “illegally” exploit Argentine natural resources at the Sea Lion oil field without authorization from Argentine authorities. Argentina claims the area as its own as part of its ongoing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas. The filing was made Tuesday before the Tierra del Fuego provincial judiciary by the La Plata Malvinas War Veterans Center (CECIM, by its Spanish initials) and the Argentine Association of Environmental Lawyers. On Wednesday, federal Judge Mariel Borruto, from Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, asked the federal prosecutor’s office to indicate whether she has jurisdiction to rule “in terms of the subject and territory” covered by the filing. This means that, before potentially ordering a halt to the oil project, she will await the prosecutors’ approval to move forward with the case, since it involves activities by foreign companies, environmental issues and the sovereignty dispute. She also asked the prosecutors for their opinion on whether the project could cause collective environmental damage. The judicial request The lawyers who filed the request for preventive measures said in a statement that they aim to “stop the oil and gas project Sea Lion” — the first of its kind in this area — because the companies plan to drill in the Malvinas oil field “without having gone through the environmental impact evaluation Argentine law demands and without the approval of national authorities.” According to them, the oil drilling project “unilaterally introduces a modification over an illegally occupied territory,” referring to the maritime area surrounding the Malvinas Islands. This, they said, “clearly violates” a 1976 United Nations resolution that ordered Argentina and the UK not to make any changes to the territory while the sovereignty dispute remains unresolved. They described the actions as “colonial.” Their lawsuit demands that the companies stop work, planned drilling and any other activity on the seabed, as well as refrain from signing new contracts or making new money transfers related to the project. It also requests that they disclose where the funding comes from. Potential impact While there is no set deadline for the judiciary to make a decision, Enrique Viale, head of the environmental lawyers’ association, told the Herald that they expect a ruling in the coming days. The lawyer said that, although the companies could argue that the Argentine judiciary has no jurisdiction over their activities, the legal action will “make it complicated for the firms.” “With a strong ruling that establishes the project is illegal, we will be able to carry out actions in the commodity and stock exchanges where the oil companies and the firms that fund them are listed,” Viale said. “This worries the companies’ lawyers.” The filing asked the judiciary to inform international market organizations of the potential measures against Rockhopper and Navitas, including the Financial Conduct Authority, the London Stock Exchange, the Israel Securities Authority, and the Tel Aviv and New York Stock Exchanges. In their filing, the lawyers stated that if the oil drilling project continues as planned, it could lead to “irreversible and permanent” environmental damage to areas including not only those surrounding the Malvinas, but also the Argentine Sea and the Antarctic region. “There is no possible recovery from an [oil] spill in sub-Antarctic waters, just as there is no simple way to reverse a consummated act of colonial exploitation sustained by the establishment of permanent infrastructure,” the document read. Sea Lion project The project is based at the Sea Lion oil field, located about 220 kilometers north of the island’s capital, Puerto Argentino. It was formally announced in December. Drilling is expected to begin in early 2027, and extraction is set to start in 2028. The goal is to extract more than 300 million barrels over a 30-year period. In October of last year, the island’s executive council considered and approved a series of reports related to offshore minerals. In 2024, islanders gave their approval through a consultation in which they were asked to weigh in on the Environmental Impact Statement presented by Navitas Petroleum. The Israeli company owns most of the rights to the Sea Lion Field Northern Development Area. This would be the first time the Malvinas conducts an oil drilling project in its surrounding waters, despite Argentina’s ongoing sovereignty claims over the islands and the maritime territory. The Argentine government has called the project “illegitimate.” Rockhopper Exploration’s operations were declared clandestine and illegal by Argentina in 2012, and the company was banned from operating in the country for 20 years in 2013. Navitas was likewise sanctioned in 2022 for carrying out oil drilling operations in Argentine territory without authorization from Argentina. Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falkland Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands. Cover image: illustrative oil drilling photo by J.f Manzanero @heyfrancox/Unsplash