The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Tuesday begins hearings of Argentina’s complaint about the UK’s oil drilling project north of the Falkland Islands, which Argentinian President Javier Milei claims is unlawful amid a recently revived row with Britain over who controls the Falklands.
The Sea Lion oil field is operated by Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Ltd (NPDP), a UK-based fully owned subsidiary of Israeli Navitas Petroleum, and its British partner Rockhopper Exploration.
The companies earlier this year reached a final investment decision on the Sea Lion Northern Development. This means that all the necessary approvals and funding for full-scale project execution have been secured. First oil is planned for March 2028, Navitas Petroleum says.
However, after months of tensions over the Falklands and the oil drilling project, Argentina in October took the case to the international tribunal.
The court can issue legally binding rulings on maritime disputes.
“We will always respect the rights of the Falkland Islanders to choose to be British. That will never change under this Government, and we will be relentless in defending that,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in September, shortly after Milei escalated his fight for the Falklands.
The UK is “fully engaged in the UNCLOS process and we’ll clearly set out our position on Argentina’s request for provisional measures before the tribunal,” the prime minister’s official spokesman told The Independent on Monday.
“We’ll continue to robustly defend our interests and those of the Falkland Islanders. The hearing is not about the sovereignty of the Falklands,” the spokesman added.
Falkland Islanders have previously voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory.
The UK and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the Falklands, which Argentina calls Las Malvinas, but the tension and the dispute never really faded away. Britain has controlled the islands since 1833, while Argentina has long claimed they are part of its territory.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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