Britain's attorney general told an international tribunal in Hamburg that Argentina's attempt to block oil drilling in the Falkland Islands would inflict "devastating consequences" on the territory's 3,600 residents. Ellie Reeves, representing the UK at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos), said the Sea Lion offshore oilfield project could generate 8 billion pounds over 35 years and double the islands' GDP per capita.
Argentina is seeking a provisional ruling to suspend drilling scheduled to begin in March 2025, claiming the project breaches a 1976 UN resolution and poses environmental risks. Reeves argued Argentina was disguising a sovereignty claim as an environmental concern. She accused Argentina of weaponizing the tribunal to pursue its longstanding territorial claim over the south Atlantic islands.
Mario Oyarzábal, Argentina's chief legal adviser, countered that the 46 million people of Argentina, not 3,600 islanders, hold rights to the resources. He said the UK was a "colonial power" acting unilaterally to entrench its control. Oyarzábal added that Argentina, as the "coastal state," would bear the environmental consequences of any oil spill, not the UK government 12,700 kilometers away.
The Sea Lion project, led by Israeli firm Navitas and British partner Rockhopper, is expected to extract oil from 2028 onward. President Javier Milei has called the project unlawful. The tribunal hearing, the first substantive litigation over the islands at an international body, continues on Wednesday. The 1982 Falklands war killed 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three islanders.