Argentina threatens to block Falklands oil extraction amid sovereignty dispute with UK

Argentina's foreign minister Pablo Quirno has said his government will act to prevent the exploitation of oil resources in waters surrounding the Falkland Islands, describing this as part of a strategy to peacefully reassert Argentine sovereignty over the archipelago. The remarks were made at an event hosted by a Buenos Aires thinktank, attended by the UK's ambassador to Argentina, David Cairns, who left shortly after the minister's speech.

Quirno accused the British government of refusing to negotiate over the sovereignty dispute while taking unilateral action on natural resources in the contested maritime zone. He said President Javier Milei's strategy aims to restore full Argentine sovereignty through peaceful means, arguing that resource extraction would entrench British control of the islands.

At the centre of the dispute is the Sea Lion oil project in the North Falkland Basin, which Milei last month branded an "unlawful act" during a speech to the UN General Assembly. Argentina maintains that the project breaches a 1976 UN resolution requiring both sides to refrain from unilateral action regarding the islands. On 28 September, Milei gave the UK a two-week deadline to halt the project, threatening arbitration before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea under UNCLOS.

The UN does not recognise either country's sovereignty claim and continues to call for a negotiated, bilateral resolution. The 1982 war, triggered by an Argentine invasion, lasted 74 days and killed 649 Argentine servicemen, 255 British servicemen and three Falkland islanders.

The UK has said the islands, home to roughly 3,600 people, will remain a British overseas territory for as long as residents wish it, citing a 2013 referendum in which 99.8% voted to stay British on a 92% turnout. Argentina rejects this use of the self-determination principle. Quirno also warned other countries against assisting in resource extraction around the islands, saying such involvement would exclude them from benefiting from Argentina's future economic growth.