Fully aware of an illegitimate decision , the Tierra del Fuego government approved the renewal of the province's oil contracts with the consortium that exploits the "HIDRA" and "CAÑADON" oil fields.    ALFA-ARA”, “ANTARES”, “KAUS”, “ARGO"    and    "VEGA PLEYADE" belonging to the "AUSTRAL MARINE BASIN 1" Area . But with one exception, the consortium has a new partner in the partnership with Total Energy and Pan American Energy: the British company Harbour Energy. Between 2021 and 2022, the company held 65% of the shares in the Leon Marino/Sea Lion oil project, discovered in 2010 by Rockhopper , based on illegitimate concessions granted by the British colony that usurps the Malvina Islands.

The illegality that Gustavo Melella's government tolerates, admits to, and conceals occurs as a consequence of Harbour Energy's acquisition of Wintershall Dea's global non-Russian oil and gas assets in 2024, including its operations in Argentina . The German company's shareholding in the Fenix Project, on the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego, together with Total and Panamerican, and in Neuquén; in the Vaca Muerta field.

The purchase agreement was announced on December 21, 2023, and its officialization was completed with the closing of the transaction between September 3 and 4, 2024. At the time of the final transfer of Wintershall Dea shares to Harbor Energy.

From Gustavo Melella on down, no one in the Tierra del Fuego government can claim ignorance on the subject . On February 14, 2024, engineer Alejandro Aguirre, then Minister of Energy of Tierra del Fuego, stated that he, along with Governor Gustavo Melella and Secretary of the Malvinas Islands, Andrés Dachary, had agreed not to authorize the transfer of the shares held by Wintershall Dea Argentina. owns the Fenix offshore field - located on the northern coast of the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego Island -; the company British oil company Harbour Energy .

"What we've discussed with Dachary is rejecting the agreement. First publicly, and then putting everyone on notice that we won't allow any concessions," the minister said.

None of this was going to happen because the request for the transfer of assets had to go through the Provincial Executive and subsequently the Tierra del Fuego Legislature. Furthermore, a case had to be opened with the National Energy Secretariat.

To evade the reach of the Law No. 26,659 , or the "Pino Solanas Law," which penalizes companies that conduct oil exploration in areas of the Argentine continental shelf without permission from the national government, and which particularly affect Argentine sovereignty over the Malvina Islands; Harbour Energy retains the name Wintershal Dea Argentina, although it is led by Engineer Martín Rueda, Harbour Energy's Managing Director in Argentina, as its representative.

On September 4, 2024, when the transfer was made official, Energy Minister Alejandro Aguirre reiterated that the Tierra del Fuego government would not authorize the transfer of oil shares to the British company Harbour Energy .

In order to bypass the mandate of the First Transitory Provision of the CN and the National Law No. 26,659, the legal incompatibility was resolved by a general cover-up consented to by all the actors: by the Libertarian government, by the Melella administration, by the Tierra del Fuego legislature, by the directors of Total Energy, of Pan American Energy, by those of the seller WinterShal and the buyer Harbour Energy.

On Monday, June 30, Governor Gustavo Melella's decree extending oil contracts based on false information entered the Legislature, was forwarded to the blocs on July 1, and approved in session on Tuesday, July 8. However, according to information gathered by Agenda Malvinas , the decree would not have been reviewed by the Court of Accounts or the State Attorney General of Tierra del Fuego .

What Harbour Energy itself says

Just by visiting the Harbour Energy Argentina website , the company speaks firsthand about its involvement in Tierra del Fuego and Neuquén. “In Argentina, we are a major energy supplier and one of the country's leading natural gas producers,” it states. It explains: “Harbour's production is concentrated in two areas : the prolific Cuenca Marina Austral (CMA-1) offshore concession in Tierra del Fuego province , and the Aguada Pichana Este and San Roque onshore concessions in the Neuquén basin . The business acquired by Harbour has been operating in Argentina for over four decades and has a long-term operating partnership through TotalEnergies.”

On the contrary, the latest information uploaded to the WinterShal Dea Argentina website dates back to September 11, 2023, when the company celebrated 45 years in the country and considered the Fénix Field as the largest offshore development project in Argentina.

There is ample evidence to understand and confirm the illegality of authorizing the covert and deceitful participation of a company that first violated Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and now violates the Argentine Constitution and national laws.