(Bloomberg) — Argentina is intensifying pressure on companies over offshore oil development around the Falkland Islands as the territory moves closer to first production, reviving a longstanding dispute with the UK.
Over the weekend, President Javier Milei’s press office circulated statements from Halliburton, SLB and Baker Hughes confirming that the oilfield service companies have no involvement in oil development off the islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno has become an outspoken critic of energy companies involved in the emerging offshore industry, while Argentina has tightened longstanding sanctions on firms operating there. British officials have reiterated that the Falklands belong to the UK.
The renewed scrutiny comes as first offshore oil production from the islands draws closer, raising the economic stakes surrounding a sovereignty dispute that led Argentina and the UK to war in 1982.
The government’s campaign has also drawn attention to Argentine businessman Eduardo Elsztain, whose Dolphin Fund Ltd. holds about a 2% stake in FIH Group Plc, parent of the Falkland Islands Company. Elsztain defended the investment Sunday after facing criticism over his connection to the British territory.
Elsztain said the investment was intended to deepen economic and commercial ties between Argentina and the islands rather than undermine Argentina’s sovereignty claim.
“My grandfather Isaac always told me that if Argentina would have been economically involved in the life of the Malvinas Islands throughout the 20th century, the war probably would’ve been avoided,” Elsztain said in a LinkedIn post.
Elsztain, chief executive of real estate company IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones SA, previously sought to acquire a majority interest in the Falkland Islands Company, but British authorities declined to allow an Argentine investor to take control of the business.
Milei’s government has increasingly focused attention on the Falklands as offshore oil development advances, putting companies with actual or perceived business ties to the islands under greater scrutiny.
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