Milei sets deadline on oil project

Argentine President Javier Milei has threatened legal action against the U.K. over the Sea Lion offshore oil project, a venture between British and Israeli companies off the Falkland Islands.

Two weeks to stop the project

Setting a two-week deadline on Monday, Milei said if the project has not been stopped, he will take the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, an independent judicial body.

The companies involved

The oil companies are Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum. Both have said they have valid licenses for the planned extractions.

Years of tension over the islands

The Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Islas Malvinas, sit roughly three hundred miles from the Argentine coast. They have been a British territory for almost two centuries, but Argentina has never accepted British sovereignty.

Trump stokes the dispute

U.S. President Donald Trump further stoked tensions in late August when he suggested the U.S. is reviewing its neutrality on the sovereignty dispute, a comment Milei seized upon.

Britain's response to the threat

A U.K. Foreign Office spokesperson told TIME the threats are an attempt to deny Falkland Islanders the right to pursue economic development. Britain says its support for their self-determination is unwavering.

“These latest threats are another attempt to deny the Falkland Islanders the right to pursue their own economic development and decide their own future.”

Islanders voted to stay British

In a two thousand thirteen referendum, Falkland residents voted overwhelmingly to remain under British rule. The referendum saw ninety-two percent of eligible voters turn out, with ninety-nine point eight percent voting yes.

Vast oil reserves at stake

The Sea Lion oilfield contains vast energy reserves. The basin is estimated to contain one point seven billion barrels of oil, making it a significant economic prize.

Argentina's legal strategy

Argentina says it will seek to initiate arbitral proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an international treaty that sets rules for ocean use and governance.

How the tribunal process works

According to Marcelo Kohen, a professor emeritus of international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Argentina gave the U.K. two weeks to accept provisional measures. If rejected, Argentina will go to the tribunal in Hamburg.

Tribunal's jurisdiction limits

Experts tell TIME the international court has previously said it does not view it to be within its jurisdiction to rule on territorial sovereignty disputes, which could limit Argentina's case.

Argentina escalates enforcement

Argentina's Foreign Ministry on September fifteenth said it had sent approximately one hundred eighty warning and risk assessment notes to individuals and legal entities in thirty countries and filed three criminal complaints involving ten companies.