London’s newfound ambitions in the South Atlantic Sea are unlikely to meet much resistance from the Milei government.
The Malvinas, or Falkland Islands, dispute is back in the headlines in Argentina, albeit not on the front pages. The cause this time is mineral. For over a decade, the British government, together with the British company Rockhopper, has been exploring the islands’ waters for oil. And they appear to have finally struck black gold — purportedly some 500 million barrels of the stuff. Now comes the tricky task of extracting it from the islands’ heavily disputed waters.
Over the next few weeks, a statuary consultation will take place on the islands, at the end of which the local residents, the so-called “Kelpers”, will vote on whether to allow the drilling of around 23 wells in an area known as Sea Lion Field, located roughly 220 kilometres north of the islands. If given the green light, Navitas Petroleum, an Israeli energy company, could begin drilling later this year. Navitas expects to extract more than 300 million barrels over the next 30 years, most of the profits from which will go to its shareholders in Israel and the US.
Echoes of Essequibo
The royalties from the drilling could also transform the archipelago’s fishing and tourism-dependent economy, much as the recent drilling of oil in disputed waters off the coastline of Guyana has enriched that country’s economy, albeit at a high price. As we reported late last year, Exxon Mobil’s drilling in Guyanese waters has reignited a centuries-long border dispute between the former British colony and neighbouring Venezuela, with the Maduro government going so far as to hold a referendum on the annexation of the disputed territory of Essequibo.
Guyana was a former Dutch and then British colony and Essequibo a vast 160,000 square-kilometre chunk within its territory that has been claimed by Venezuela for the past 200 years. While Guyana is a former British colony, the UK’s ownership of the Falklands is very much ongoing. There is also a huge disparity in the size of the respective oil discoveries. According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, Guyana’s coastal area has roughly 13.6 billion barrels of oil reserves and 32 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves waiting to be drilled — over 26 times the amount of oil so far discovered off the Falklands.
In Argentina, Gustavo Pulti, an MP for the Unión por la Patria party, has presented a bill in the provincial Chamber of Deputies calling on the Javier Milei government to address the situation. Like many opposition MPs, Pulti accuses the Milei government of “doing nothing” to defend the sovereignty of Argentina in the face of constant encroachments from London. He’s got a point.
In the space of just five months, the UK as unilaterally expanded the no-take fishing zones — areas where fishing is banned for environmental reasons — around the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI), near the Falklands. As a result, 166,000 km2 will be added to the 283,000 km2 over which the ban was already in force, after the British authorities created the Maritime Protected Area (MPA) in 2012. London has also confirmed plans to build a new port in the Falklands, which could be used as a forward base for British interests in the Antarctic. Now, to cap it all off, it is about to begin drilling for oil in the Argentine Basin.
Located 250 miles off the southern tip of Argentina and 8,000 miles from British shores, the Malvinas/Falklands, home to 3,500 mostly British people, have been the subject of a territorial dispute between the UK and Argentina ever since 1833, when a British expedition invaded the islands, evicted their inhabitants and planted the British flag. After the Suez disaster of 1956, the British government began divesting itself of most of its colonial holdings in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean (while, of course, building a vast web of tax havens in their place). However, London made sure to hold on to the Falklands, for its obvious geo-strategic benefits.
Now classified as a British Overseas Territory, the islands are technically self-governing, with defence matters and foreign affairs handled by the UK government. London regularly cites the fact that almost 100% of the residents of the archipelago approved remaining under British control in a referendum held in 2013. Argentina maintains that the islanders were essentially implanted by the British colonisers.
In 2022, The UN’s Special Committee on Decolonization adopted a resolution calling on both governments to “consolidate the current process of dialogue through the resumption of negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute.” Most of the delegates supported the call for renewed dialogue. Pakistan’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” and China, stressed the right of Argentina to take legal action against unauthorised hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in the area.
Milei’s Silence
During David Cameron’s visit to the islands in February — the first of any British foreign secretary in 30 years — Cameron said he hopes the territory will want to remain under UK administration “for a long time, possibly forever.” Given the island’s rich mineral deposits and geostrategic location, this should come as no surprise…
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Nick Corbishley 