Argentina would have threatened the chief executive of a British oil company with prison over drilling in the Falklands

At a time when Argentina began intensifying its rhetoric regarding the Falklands, Javier Milei's government threatened a British businessman involved in an offshore oil project in the islands with prison. This was reported by The Guardian, which stated that Sam Moody, chief executive of Rockhopper Exploration, and his company's chief financial officer received the threat last September. Argentina has asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for an urgent suspension order of the drilling of the Sea Lion offshore oil project, north of the Falkland Islands, which is being led by Rockhopper, a British company, and Navitas, an Israeli company. In September, Milei told the UN General Assembly that recovering sovereignty over the Falkland Islands was a national cause and that Buenos Aires was taking "the matter into its own hands" through peaceful means. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982. The war, which lasted 74 days, ended with the surrender of Argentine forces. It cost the lives of 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders. View of Puerto Argentino (Stanley) in the Falkland Islands. Ignatius Tan The ITLOS is expected to issue its ruling on Argentina's request on November 28. In his statement, Moody indicated that on September 1, 2026, Argentina wrote to him and to Rockhopper's chief financial officer threatening them "with criminal prosecution, prison sentences, and fines under its national legislation." The information was revealed in an affidavit submitted by the United Kingdom to the ITLOS before the hearings held this week, which lasted two days. Following a request from The Guardian, the document, which had been sealed, was made available to the public. Buenos Aires passed national legislation criminalizing the project, and in his statement to the tribunal, the oil executive Moody also said he believed there was a risk in participating in the hearing in Hamburg. "I also want the tribunal to know that I, like others, am taking a certain personal risk in preparing this statement, as I have repeatedly been under the threat of criminal prosecution and imprisonment in Argentina," he wrote. In Moody's view, the measures adopted by Buenos Aires have made financing Sea Lion increasingly difficult. Among them is the ban imposed by Argentina on Navitas from operating in the country for 20 years. Milei at a ceremony honoring the victims of the 1982 Falklands War, in Buenos Aires. Agustin Marcarian It is also stated that Argentine officials wrote to Standard Chartered bank, which has a branch in Port Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, urging it to "refrain from participating in oil and gas development in the Falkland Islands to avoid falling within the terms of certain Argentine domestic legislation." In a subsequent statement submitted to the tribunal, it was revealed that Navitas and Rockhopper had not named their partners in the court documents for fear that they would be subject to retaliation by Argentina. According to a statement submitted by Ian Ramsay, chief executive of Navitas Petroleum Development and Production, "the names of the contractors hired by Navitas UK have been kept secret to preserve their confidentiality, in view of the constant scrutiny by the Argentine authorities and their continued efforts to frustrate the project, including through alleged actions targeting the contractors and partners involved in it." The Guardian reported that the American company Halliburton recently issued a statement saying it would not carry out any work on the Sea Lion project following talks held with Argentina. An aerial view of Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands, which Argentina calls Puerto Argentino, taken on October 7, 2019. Last month, The Guardian revealed that the UK government had written to Interpol seeking assurances that the international law enforcement body would not act in response to any Argentine "red notice" seeking the arrest of those considered criminals by Buenos Aires for their involvement in the Falklands economy. Argentina's request for the suspension of the Sea Lion project is based on the argument that the UK's agreement for drilling is illegal, since the sovereignty of the Falklands is a matter in dispute between the islands and Argentina. In 1976, a UN resolution urged both countries to resolve their sovereignty disputes and to refrain from unilateral action to modify the situation in the Falklands. Argentina is seeking a temporary suspension of the project pending new arbitration, arguing that oil drilling is "aggravating" the sovereignty dispute. The UK responded this week by arguing that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction in the dispute and that the cited UN resolution was not legally binding. Ellie Reeves, Attorney General for England and Wales, also told the tribunal that suspending the oil project would end its hopes of success and would have devastating consequences for the island's inhabitants. The Sea Lion project is expected to double the island's GDP, representing an increase of £8 billion in revenue for the Falkland Islands government over the life of the oil field.