# Argentina threatens UK over Falklands oil project

> President Javier Milei gives Britain two weeks to halt Sea Lion oilfield exploration or face international legal action.
- Title: Argentina threatens UK over Falklands oil project · BBC News
- Summary: President Javier Milei gives Britain two weeks to halt Sea Lion oilfield exploration or face international legal action. Argentina's president threatened…
- Keywords: argentina, falkland islands, javier milei, sea lion oilfield, oil exploration, international law, news, world, threatens, Falklands, oil, project
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5yj1835y1wo
- Published: 2026-09-29T03:50:40.225+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: argentina, falkland islands, javier milei, sea lion oilfield, oil exploration, uk, international law, news, world
## Milei sets two-week deadline
Argentina's President Javier Milei has threatened legal action against Britain unless oil exploration at the Sea Lion oilfield, a joint venture between Israeli and British companies, is scrapped within two weeks.
## Companies say licences are valid
The Sea Lion oilfield companies insist they hold valid licences issued by Britain. The project heightens tensions over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, more than forty years after a 1982 war.
## Milei threatens international arbitration
If the deadline passes, Milei said he has instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration against the UK over what he called the illegal plundering of resources through the Sea Lion Project.

> the illegal plundering of our resources through the Sea Lion Project
## Case could go to international tribunal
Milei warned the UK that if the illegitimate exploitation did not end within two weeks, Argentina would take the matter before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, an independent judicial body based in Hamburg.
## Oilfield holds 1.7 billion barrels
The Sea Lion oilfield, around one hundred thirty miles from the Falkland Islands, contains an estimated one point seven billion barrels of oil. Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum are due to begin extracting within two years.
## Islanders voted to stay British
In a two thousand thirteen referendum, Falkland Islands residents voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, with ninety-nine point eight percent voting in favour and just three voting against.
## Key takeaway

Argentina's president threatened legal action against the UK unless oil exploration off the Falkland Islands stops within two weeks.