Argentina has slammed the UK’s plans to drill for oil in the Falklands, accusing Britain of trying to illegally plunder its hydrocarbon assets and of violating its sovereignty.

The oil field in question is located 220km north of the Falkland Islands and is believed to contain more than 300 million barrels of oil.

The licence for the Sea Lion field is owned by Rockhopper Exploration, a UK-based company.

The Israeli company Navitas Petroleum will be responsible for extracting the oil from the seabed – a process that will involve drilling twenty-three wells.

Navitas has recently submitted an environmental impact statement to the Falkland Island’s government.

Government officials have begun a public consultation based on the report that will last until August 5.

However, Argentina has reacted with fury to the move and has threatened legal retaliation if the UK proceeds with its plans to drill for oil.

Gustavo Melella, the governor of Tierra del Fuego, said: “We categorically and forcefully reject the new illegal British action, which aims to carry out a popular consultation in the Malvinas Islands to advance the exploitation and plundering of our hydrocarbon resources in flagrant violation of international law.”

He also vowed to retaliate against the move using all the “legal tools” at his disposal.

He added: “Just as we did with all the companies that tried to carry out actions in Malvinas without our due authorisation as legitimate provincial authorities, we will proceed in the same way and we will make use of the legal tools at our disposal in pursuit of our rights.”

The governor added that the drilling would inflict “unprecedented economic and environmental damage” not just on the Falklands but also on the wider region.

Senator Cristina López accused the UK of “violating our sovereignty” and urged President Javier Milei to take action against Britain.

“From Tierra del Fuego we denounce the inaction of Javier Milei in defence of our natural resources,” she said.

“We are still waiting for Diana Mondino (Foreign Minister) to give us explanations.”

Argentina’s president told the BBC in an interview in May that he wanted to get the Falklands back through peaceful diplomatic negotiations.

He admitted it could take decades to try to gain sovereignty of the Falkland Islands from the UK and said Argentina does not “seek conflict”.

Mr Milei promised a “roadmap” for the islands to become Argentine, on the 42nd anniversary of the Falklands War in early April.