Sea Lion Field
Sea Lion Field is a prospective oil field in the South Atlantic Ocean, some north of the Falkland Islands. The field is estimated to have a reserve of nearly 800 million barrels of oil, which makes it larger than any North Sea oil projects. The development of the field has divided opinion, with the British Government stating that it should not go ahead as they have cancelled all new oil and gas licences, however, the Falkland Islands Government state that this is a matter for them as a devolved entity, and not part of United Kingdom law. The project is expected to generate £4 billion in income for the Falkland Islands.
In December 2025, it was indicated that, after prolonged consideration, Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum had taken the final investment decisions for the development of Phase 1 of the field and sanctioned the project. Phase 1, aims to produce 170 mmbbls at a peak production of approximately 50,000 bbls/d. The first oil from Phase 1 was planned for 2028. Argentina immediately rejected these plans with the Argentine foreign ministry stating that Argentina would: “deepen its action plan to adopt all additional measures, in accordance with international law, that it deems necessary to safeguard its sovereign rights and interests.”
History
The field was discovered in 2010 in water depth up to, and an initial estimated reserve of 500 million barrels of oil. The Falklands Basin has been drilled by Shell and Amerada Hess, but they did not discover any oil reserves. The initial drilling phase is expected to produce up to 55,000 barrels of oil per day, expected to ramp up to 80,000 bopd when the project is in full operation. Estimates for the project predict that the field could yield 400 million barrels of oil over its lifetime, with one oil commentator stating that "I can't remember the last time that amount was discovered in the UK North Sea."The project is expected to last for 35 years and generate around £4 billion in revenue for the Falkland Islands,, which equates to about £1 million per islander. Whilst the project is expected to be controversial from objections by neighbouring South American countries, the low tax threshold compared with the Great Britain's North Sea oil and gas tax, is favourable. To stimulate investment, Rockhopper sold a 60% stake in the project to Premier Oil in return for a $1 billion investment. By 2025 the lead company involved was Navitas Petroleum who have a 65% stake, with Rockhopper Exploration holding the remaining 35%.
A consultation of the project in summer 2024, seems to have acquired support from the islanders themselves.
Opinions
, writing in the Daily Telegraph, argues that Britain should support its overseas territory in this matter as it does not have any strategic reserves of oil. In the future, Great Britain will be required to only source their oil from "bad places", but the Falkland Islands are a key ally, and a friendly source which Great Britain could rely on.Falklands Conservation were critical of the project stating that "We believe that there is significant corner-cutting in both the gathering of evidence and in the proposed commitments to address environmental impacts. In particular, it fails to provide a firm commitment to offsetting all carbon emissions – the millions of tonnes produced during the development and the more than 100 million tonnes from burning of Falklands oil. Regrettably, the EIS and proposed development is inconsistent with best practice standards, global climate targets and non-polluting developments."
A spokesperson for the UK Government stated that “As the Foreign Secretary set out in his speech on the climate crisis last week , we are resetting the UK’s approach to climate and nature by rapidly delivering new, more efficient ways to reduce emissions. Since 2001, the UK has ceased financial support for the fossil fuel energy sector, including in its overseas territories. The natural resources of all UK Overseas Territories belong to the individual territories. Exploration of natural resources on the Falkland Islands is a matter for the Falkland Islands.”
In response, the Falkland Islands Government said “We completely appreciate the UK’s stance on climate change and understand their position on prohibiting any new hydrocarbon licensing within the UKCS, while existing licences are honoured. The matter of development of the natural resources of the Falkland Islands is a devolved matter and is for the people of the Falkland Islands to decide."
After the discovery of the oil field was announced, the foreign minister of Argentina declared that "..British actions in the region were illegal and unilateral." He also said that his country would take all "lawful steps to impede British oil exploration and production" in the region.