Argentina targets oil company operating in Falklands

What the report says

Argentina has announced plans to bring criminal charges against Israeli-listed oil company Navitas Petroleum and related executives over offshore activity near the Falkland Islands, according to BBC World News. The decision follows a recent escalation in President Javier Milei’s public campaign to restate Argentina’s claim to the islands, which the UK controls and calls the Falklands, while Argentina refers to as Las Malvinas.

The BBC reported that the move centers on Navitas’ stake in the Sea Lion project in the North Falkland Basin, a development expected to begin production in 2028. Argentine authorities say drilling there breaches national law because it involves resource exploitation without approval from Buenos Aires. Navitas has said previously that Milei’s criticism was not expected to affect the project timeline, and the company has not yet responded to the latest announcement.

The dispute is part of a long-running sovereignty conflict dating back to the 1982 war, when British forces retook the islands after Argentina’s invasion. Milei has recently taken a firmer public line, arguing that oil development threatens Argentine sovereignty and rejecting the islands’ 2013 referendum result, in which residents voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory. The UK government has said its position remains unchanged.