The company Halliburton, one of the leading firms providing technology, equipment, and specialized personnel for oil extraction, reaffirmed today that it will not work on the Sea Lion project nor participate in any hydrocarbon exploration and production activities in the Malvinas Islands or their surrounding waters, according to Reuters.
The reaffirmation is not a spontaneous gesture: it responds to a direct request from the Argentine government within the framework of a legal and diplomatic offensive that the Foreign Ministry carried out during September against companies linked to the oil field.
As reported, the oil services provider contacted the Argentine authorities, who had raised questions about the company's possible participation in the project and about the application of current and proposed legislation in relation to activities in the disputed territory.
The statement comes after Argentine President Javier Milei intensified the country's claim to the Malvinas Islands with sanctions against companies involved in oil exploitation of the British overseas territory.
Following the nationwide broadcast and the threat against companies providing logistics services to the oil companies operating in Sea Lion, Halliburton's local subsidiary had already notified on September 5 of its decision not to participate in projects in the Malvinas.
Within the framework of the escalation of political and dip…
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The Sea Lion oil platform operates in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean near the Falkland Islands archipelago. (Illustrative image Infobae)
Halliburton, one of the leading firms providing technology, equipment and specialized personnel for oil extraction, confirmed today that it will not work on the Sea Lion project nor participate in any hydrocarbon exploration and production activity in the Falkland Islands or their surrounding waters, according to Reuters. The confirmation is not a spontaneous gesture: it responds to a direct request from the Argentine government as part of a legal and diplomatic offensive that the Foreign Ministry deployed during September against companies linked to the oil field. As reported, the oil services provider contacted Argentine authorities, who had raised questions about the company's possible participation in the project and about the application of current and proposed legislation in relation to activities in the disputed territory.
The statement comes after Argentine President Javier Milei intensified the country's claim to the Falkland Islands with sanctions against companies involved in oil exploitation of the British overseas territory. Following the national broadcast, and the threat against companies providing logistics to the oil companies operating at Sea Lion, Halliburton's local subsidiary had already notified on September 5 of its decision not to participate in projects in the Falklands.
As part of the escalation of political and diplomatic tension between Argentina and the United Kingdom over sovereignty in the Falklands and control of the oil, the Foreign Ministry distributed nearly 180 formal notifications to oil services firms around the world, warning them that any collaboration with Sea Lion would leave them barred from operating in Vaca Muerta, the unconventional hydrocarbon formation centered in Neuquén that produces more than 600,000 barrels per day.
President Javier Milei
That warning had already taken effect in September, when SLB (formerly Schlumberger) and Baker Hughes made public statements in the same vein as Halliburton's. The three companies concentrate most of the global technical capacity for offshore drilling on the scale that Sea Lion requires.
The pressure on Sea Lion is not limited to the administrative sphere. In mid-September, federal judge of Tierra del Fuego Mariel Borruto issued an injunction ordering Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum to suspend any material act related to the project, including drilling, underwater infrastructure, pipelines and commercial extraction. The measure was based on the absence of an environmental impact assessment validated by Argentine national authorities. The ruling itself acknowledged that its practical effectiveness depends on international cooperation, given that the project operates under British licenses.
In parallel, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno filed a criminal complaint against five firms linked to Navitas Petroleum — including its direct subsidiaries and the Canadian Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas — for operating in the North Malvinas Basin without Argentine authorization. Argentine law provides for penalties of up to 20 years of disqualification and 15 years of imprisonment in these cases. The sanctioning process reaches a total of about 60 individuals and companies, including operators, shareholders, executives and strategic suppliers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Israel, the United States, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The boldest step came on August 30, when Argentina formally notified the United Kingdom of the start of an arbitration procedure under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and gave it a 14-day deadline to halt operations. "If within two weeks the United Kingdom does not stop the illegitimate exploitation, we will go to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea," Milei wrote on X. Absent a response, Argentina will proceed with a formal lawsuit before that tribunal, headquartered in Hamburg.