Falkland Islands oil drillers took a hit today as they found themselves being punted around in a game of political football.
Shares in the London-listed explorers, Premier Oil, Rockhopper Exploration and Falkland Oil and Gas dropped after a federal judge in Argentina ordered their assets to be seized.
Foreign minister Hector Timerman ordered $156 million (£99 million) in bank accounts, boats and other properties to be grabbed and said he would formally request that the stock exchange regulators carry out the order.
Tensions have flared between the UK and Argentina since the discovery of oil on the South Atlantic islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas. Rhetoric is heating up before the Argentinian elections in October with politicians appealing to popular demand by taking strong stances on the matter.
Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falklands despite the UK having held the islands for 180 years with a brief pause in 1982 when they went to war.
Timerman said: “What the United Kingdom is doing is what it did in classic colonialism: appropriate resources from its colonies and take them back to their country.”
The groups made no comment. Premier Oil tumbled 2.6p to 150.4p, Rockhopper fell 2.5p to 69.5p, while Falkland Oil & Gas shed 1.75p to 27.5p.
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