President Javier Milei stated that if the two-week deadline is not met, he has "instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration" against the UK, and would take the matter before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Sea Lion oilfield project, a joint venture between Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum, is expected to begin extraction within two years and contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The companies insist they have valid licences issued by Britain.