MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Halliburton rules out Sea Lion after Argentina raised criminal and civil enforcement

In a statement issued in Houston, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company said it had been in contact with the “Argentine Federal Authority” regarding any involvement in the project

US oilfield services company Halliburton confirmed on Friday that neither it nor its subsidiaries will work on the Sea Lion project or take part in hydrocarbon exploration or production in or around the Falklands, after Argentine authorities raised the prospect of criminal and civil enforcement.

In a statement issued in Houston, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company said it had been in contact with the “Argentine Federal Authority” regarding any involvement in the project. According to the statement, that authority raised questions about “criminal and civil enforcement of existing legislation”, pending criminal and civil legislation, and existing right-to-contract certification regulations. The company did not identify the body it had been in contact with. The statement refers to the archipelago as the “Malvinas Islands”.

It is the first time one of the companies targeted by Argentina's campaign has publicly set out the substance of the warnings it received. The pending legislation is the sovereignty bill Javier Milei's government sent to Congress on September 18, which extends prohibitions to all natural resources on the continental shelf.

The parent company's decision confirms the position announced in early September by the Argentine subsidiaries of Halliburton and Baker Hughes, following SLB, formerly Schlumberger. The three are the world's largest oilfield services companies. Halliburton Argentina said at the time that it “respects the sovereignty of the Argentine Republic”, and state oil company YPF welcomed the decisions. According to Argentine media, the foreign ministry warned the roughly 180 companies it notified that working with Sea Lion could bar them from operating in Vaca Muerta, the country's main unconventional hydrocarbon formation; Halliburton's statement makes no reference to that.

Sea Lion, about 220 kilometres north of the archipelago, is being developed by Israel's Navitas and Britain's Rockhopper under licences from the local government, with drilling expected to begin in early 2027. Rockhopper said on Wednesday it would press ahead with the project. The United Kingdom maintains that the activity is legitimate and governed by the archipelago's legislation, and in guidance published on September 15 offered to make its position clear to companies facing pressure from third countries. There was no British response, nor any from the project's companies, to this statement.

Argentina has 60 administrative proceedings open, with no penalty applied, and three criminal complaints against ten companies, and on Monday announced international arbitration against the United Kingdom. None of the allegations has been proven.