The plundering of Argentine resources occurs without any effective action taken by President Javier Milei.

The Malvinas Islands will be the site of a new oil and gas exploitation project involving the Israeli company Navitas Petroleum, which holds 65% of the shares, and the British company Rockhopper, which owns the remaining 35%.

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This megaproject, which will take place in the South Atlantic at depths ranging from 180 to 500 meters, aims to extract 300 million barrels of oil over a 30-year period, generating estimated revenues of US$25.5 billion.

The initial phase includes the drilling of 23 wells in the Sea Lion field, located 218 kilometers north of the archipelago, a region described as “world-class” due to the quantity and quality of its reserves.

Taking advantage of the de facto occupation of the Malvinas Islands, the British government stands to benefit economically from this initiative, receiving an estimated US$6 billion in royalties.

“According to estimates by Rockhopper and Navitas, with a barrel of crude trading internationally at around US$70, Sea Lion could yield annual returns of approximately US$1.7 billion. Unless halted by claims from Argentina, Sea Lion will have 22 wells drilled and brought into production. One ship would process and store the crude offshore, and other ships would load the oil and transport it to different global markets,” outlet CAPAC recalled.

“The offshore Sea Lion field was discovered in 2010 by Rockhopper. Since then, it partnered with Harbour Energy, which sold its stake to Navitas in 2022. Harbour Energy had explored for oil in the Malvinas Islands, and in 2021, the Argentine government initiated a sanctioning process against the company,” it added.

This plundering of Argentine resources occurs without any effective action taken by the administration of President Javier Milei to defend the rights of the South American nation. In fact, this far-righ politician leads the first administration that has not made claims in international forums nor promoted legal action against the companies involved in the extraction.

The Argentine government’s silence enables the continuation of the Sea Lion project, undermining national sovereignty and marking a setback in Argentina’s struggle to reclaim the Malvinas Islands.

In addition to the economic and political harms, the Sea Lion oil field poses environmental risks that are not being addressed. The Malvinas Islands’ Offshore Minerals Ordinance requires that extraction projects undergo a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment, as the southern Atlantic region could suffer consequences from potential environmental damage. Nevertheless, Javier Milei, who has publicly declared himself an unconditional ally of Israel, has remained silent.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: CAPAC

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