UK files claim to seabed around the Falklands

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain lodged a claim to a large swath of South Atlantic seabed around the Falkland Islands on Monday, setting the stage for a battle with Argentina for control of potentially rich oil and gas reserves in the area.

The dispute over mineral rights could further embitter a long-running dispute between Britain and Argentina over sovereignty over the islands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish, which led to war in 1982.

Britain filed its claim to an extensive area of seabed around the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, British officials said.

The claim covers an area of about 1.2 million sq km (463,300 square miles), according to Lindsay Parson of Britain's National Oceanography Centre, who helped prepare the filing.

Argentina filed its own claim with the U.N. commission last month which encompasses the same area claimed by Britain.

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said in a statement that Britain's move was "unacceptable and inadmissible," vowing his government would formally object to any attempt to extend the "illegal occupation" of Argentine territory.

Under the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, coastal states may explore and exploit the natural resources of their continental shelf for up to 200 nautical miles from shore.

They can apply to extend that outer limit to up to 350 nautical miles in certain circumstances. Britain had to file its claim to the seabed around the Falklands by a May 13 deadline.

The commission will consider the voluminous data presented by Britain and Argentina.

But a Foreign Office official said that, in cases where countries make competing claims, the U.N. Commission is likely to shelve the issue until the states settle the dispute.

"We're essentially putting this submission in as a safeguard for the future," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

He said British and Argentine officials had held talks some years ago to look at working together on the issue but had failed to agree.

The Guardian newspaper quoted seismic surveys in January as saying there could be around 18 billion barrels of oil in the Falklands area and that exploration companies planned to start drilling later this year.

Britain seized back the Falklands in a 1982 war after they were occupied by Argentine forces. Some 649 Argentines and 255 British troops died.

In March, Britain dismissed a fresh Argentine demand for sovereignty talks over the islands.

In all, the U.N. Commission is considering more than 40 claims by various countries wanting to extend their rights over the seabed and dozens more are expected to be lodged.

Britain has made three previous submissions covering the continental shelf in the Bay of Biscay (made jointly with France, Ireland and Spain), around Ascension Island and in the Hatton Rockall area of the northeast Atlantic.

Britain has not made a filing covering the continental shelf of the British Antarctic Territory but has said it reserves the right to do so in future.

(Additional reporting by Hilary Burke in Buenos Aires; Editing by Alison Williams and Cynthia Osterman)