The British government dismissed Milei’s speech and stressed that its position on the Falklands was “unwavering”.
Hopes that Milei’s primetime speech may have been a blip and that he would return to his previous stance of strengthening diplomatic ties with the UK were crushed on Monday, however, when his office announced it would file criminal charges against Navitas Petroleum, several of its subsidiaries and their executives.
Navitas, which is listed in Tel Aviv, holds a 65% stake in Sea Lion, an offshore oil project set to start production in the North Falkland Basin in 2028.
The Sea Lion oilfield, around 130 miles (209 km) from the Falkland Islands, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
In Monday’s statement, Milei alleged that drilling in the area would violate Argentine law banning resource exploitation without approval from the Argentine authorities.
“The state will continue to pursue actions deemed necessary to counter any act which breaches the sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic,” the statement insisted.
Navitas has not yet responded to this latest statement but said last week that Milei’s remarks were “not expected to have a material effect on the development activities of the Sea Lion Project, including the timetable for completion of the Project’s development”.
Rockhopper, which owns a partial stake in the Sea Lion project, has also not yet commented on Milei’s statement.
Both companies have in the past stressed that Sea Lion holds valid licences from the Falkland Islands.
