The Foreign Ministry announced new administrative, commercial, and criminal measures against companies linked to the Sea Lion oil project, with disqualifications of up to 20 years and restrictions on accessing the RIGI and operating in Vaca Muerta
The Argentine Republic is experiencing a new era of geopolitical weight under the leadership of President Javier Milei, who has buried decades of diplomatic passivity and inaction. In a historic institutional assault against the usurpation in the South Atlantic, the Government of Freedom categorically rejected the recent publication issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom.
This colonialist document titled "Doing Business with the Falkland Islands" aims to illegally support foreign corporations' investments in Argentine sovereign territory. In response to this provocation from London, the Argentine Foreign Ministry stated that it will relentlessly deepen administrative, commercial, financial, and criminal measures against any company, investor, or supplier attempting to profit from non-renewable resources without the proper authorization from the Argentine State.
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Furthermore, the national diplomacy formally summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Israel to formally deliver protest notes against the advance of the illegal oil project Sea Lion. The Argentine administration denounced that these Anglo-Israeli maneuvers openly violate Resolution 31/49 of the United Nations General Assembly (UN), which demands abstaining from making unilateral changes to the situation of the islands while the sovereignty dispute persists.
Official statement from the Foreign Ministry
The legal suffocation strategy implemented by President Javier Milei is supported by an insurmountable regulatory framework consisting of Law 26.659, Law 26.915, and the recent Decree 868/2026, which designated the Foreign Ministry as the enforcement authority and expedited procedural timelines to apply sanctions with maximum speed. This reinforced framework includes severe disqualifications of between 5 and 20 years to operate in the Argentine Republic, the reversal of hydrocarbon concessions, and an absolute prohibition on contracting with the national public or private sector for any infringing firm or its suppliers.
Additionally, the regulation imposes a devastating commercial punishment: those who participate directly or indirectly in the illegitimate exploration of the archipelago will be automatically barred from accessing the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) and will not be able to obtain new permits in the colossal geological reserve of Vaca Muerta or anywhere else in the national territory.
The president, Javier Milei
The numerical balance of this judicial and administrative hunt highlights the global reach of the libertarian offensive, having already sent nearly 180 warning notes to individuals and legal entities based in 30 countries. Likewise, the Argentine State has 60 administrative procedures open and has initiated 3 criminal complaints directly targeting 10 companies and their executives for the clandestine exploitation of the Sea Lion deposit.
This offshore project —located 220 kilometers north of the archipelago and developed by the consortium formed by the British Rockhopper Exploration Plc and the Israeli Navitas Petroleum Lp— plans to extract 170 million barrels in its first phase starting from 2028.
However, the firmness exercised by the Argentine Government has already led to the unconditional surrender and withdrawal of the three largest global oil service companies (SLB, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton), leaving the pirate project without access to key technological suppliers. The Argentine Republic reaffirmed that it will exhaust all available diplomatic and judicial avenues to uphold the National Constitution under the non-negotiable principle: "by history and by right: the Malvinas are Argentine".
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