Argentina protests Falklands oil exploration plans

BUENOS AIRES Feb 2 (Reuters) - Argentina protested to Britain on Tuesday over plans to begin offshore oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands, which the two countries went to war over in 1982.

Local media reported that British oil company Desire Petroleum is about to start exploration drilling off the coast of the remote South Atlantic archipelago. Geologists think the area around the islands could hold rich energy reserves.

"What they're doing is illegitimate .. it's a violation of our sovereignty. We will do everything necessary to defend and preserve our rights," Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana told reporters after meeting a senior British Embassy official.

The islands, which are called the Islas Malvinas in Spanish, have been under British control since 1833.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it "strongly rejects the United Kingdom's intention to authorize energy exploration and production in part of Argentina's continental platform."

Nearly three decades after the brief Falklands war that killed almost 1,000 people, tensions over the islands continue to simmer. Indications that there could be large oil reserves around the Falklands have raised the stakes in the sovereignty dispute. (Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; writing by Luis Andres Henao; editing by Chris Wilson)