// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Argentina lodges legal claim against UK's Falklands oil exploration
The Argentinian government has begun legal action seeking to stop the exploration of oil and gas fields north of the Falkland Islands in an escalating row with the UK.
Buenos Aires said in a statement the request lodged with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea aimed to block activity authorised "illegally" by the UK.
The claim comes a fortnight after Argentinian President Javier Milei demanded the scrapping of the Sea Lion oilfield project, a joint venture between Israeli and British companies.
UK Foreign Office minister Uma Kumaran criticised the "escalating campaign" from Argentina against companies operating in the Falklands, while announcing new protections for them.
The developments heighten tensions between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the self-governing British territory, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, more than 40 years after a British military task force ejected Argentinian forces which had invaded the territory.
Earlier last month Milei also threatened to impose economic sanctions on firms exploiting oil close to the Falkland Islands.
Uma Kumaran accused the Argentinian government of "economic coercion" against the people of the Falkland Islands.
"We will do whatever it takes to support them," she told the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The Sea Lion oilfield, around 130 miles (209 km) from the Falkland Islands, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
The Falkland Islands government extended exploration licences last month and the field is expected to start pumping in 2028, potentially generating huge revenues for the roughly 3,500 inhabitants of the islands.