A federal court in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, has ordered a halt to construction and other physical works related to the Sea Lion oil and gas project, located on Argentina’s continental shelf, approximately 220 kilometers north of the Malvinas Islands.

The decision was issued by Federal Judge Mariel Borruto as part of a collective environmental damage lawsuit filed by the Malvinas Veterans’ Center La Plata (CECIM) and the Civil Association of Environmental Lawyers and Professionals (AAdeAA) against Rockhopper Exploration PLC and Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Limited.

From the outset, the judge clarified that the ruling is a precautionary measure and, therefore, “does not constitute a final ruling on the liability of the defendants” or on all the issues that will have to be resolved in the main proceedings.

However, she found that the necessary elements for such preventive intervention had been........

© Buenos Aires Herald