Argentina asks sea tribunal to halt oil project off the Falklands

Argentina says the seabed needs protection now. The U.K. says the oil dispute can’t be separated from the question of who owns the islands.(CN) — The United Kingdom is backing an oil project in the South Atlantic that’s more than a year from producing its first barrel, but Argentina says the damage could start with the first production well.At Tuesday’s hearing before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Argentina asked for an emergency order to halt the Sea Lion project while a separate arbitration panel is being formed. The project lies off the Falkland Islands, a British-administered island chain off the southern tip of South America that Argentina also claims.Argentina also asks the court to limit the U.K.’s use of exploration data, allow Argentina to carry out its marine protection duties and bar steps that could deepen the dispute, such as issuing new permits. The U.K. wants the request dismissed.Argentina says drilling would permanently alter the seabed. With a rig selected and contractors lined up, it argues, work could start before the arbitration panel is ready to act. Argentina also points to the project’s own environmental assessment, which raises doubts about whether crews could deploy spill response equipment in the oil field’s prevailing weather.The U.K. says the sea treaty gives the arbitration panel no power to decide who owns the islands. “Argentina is seeking to shoehorn into the Law of the Sea Convention and these proceedings a determination of territorial sovereignty,” British counsel Sir Michael Wood said.Britain also says there’s time for the panel to act. It puts the start of drilling in March 2027 and the first oil in March 2028 at the earliest. It says Argentina has shown no imminent threat of serious environmental harm and argues that even a temporary halt could kill a project the islands are counting on to help pay for public services and infrastructure.Britain administers the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own. The United Nations called for negotiations over sovereignty in 1965. The two countries fought an undeclared war over the islands in 1982, then found enough common ground in 1995 to agree to cooperate on offshore oil and gas. Argentina says Britain went ahead with exploration licenses on its own. “Unfortunately, the United Kingdom prefers to dance alone,” Argentina’s representative Mario Javier Agustín Oyarzábal said.Argentina ended the agreement in 2007. Three years later, Rockhopper discovered oil in commercial quantities. On Sept. 28, after Argentina sought talks over the planned development, the U.K. confirmed the project would go ahead. Argentina started arbitration that day. Britain refused to adopt temporary measures on Oct. 11, and Argentina went to the Hamburg court two days later.The rules for drilling offshore and protecting the ocean come from a 1982 United Nations treaty. The Hamburg-based tribunal opened in 1996 to settle disputes over those rules. Here, Argentina is asking it to hit pause on drilling while a separate panel is being formed. The court can step in if waiting would risk harm and the panel appears to have the authority to hear the dispute. Argentina says the judges can make that call without deciding who owns the islands.Argentina returns for a second round Wednesday morning, followed by the U.K. that evening. The tribunal has yet to announce when it will decide whether Sea Lion must pause while the arbitration panel is being formed.Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads