2024-04-13 23:01:29
A new concession granted to the American oil giant ExxonMobil by Guyana has reignited tension with neighboring Venezuela, which on Saturday “firmly” rejected the permit, considering that the area concerned is located in waters in dispute with Georgetown.
ExxonMobil announced in a press release on Friday that it had received the green light from the Guyanese government to develop a new mining project in the Stabroek block, a vast offshore area where there are enormous oil deposits.
The project “will increase the country’s production capacity to approximately 1.3 million barrels per day,” said Liam Mallon, president of ExxonMobil, quoted in the press release.
The oil company plans an investment of $12.7 billion, according to the text.
Venezuela “firmly rejects the illegal oil production license granted by the government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to oil companies in the Stabroek block, claiming to have energy resources in maritime zones to be delimited”, the Venezuelan government reacted on Saturday in a statement released by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yvan Gil.
“Any concession that Guyana grants or intends to grant in the areas in question is unacceptable, as it violates international law and the sovereignty of Venezuela,” according to Caracas.
The launch in September 2023 of oil tenders by Guyana in waters off the Essequibo territory has relaunched the dispute between the two countries over this region of 160,000 km2 rich in oil and natural resources under Guyanese administration but claimed by Caracas.
In response, Caracas organized a referendum in December on the annexation of Essequibo to Venezuela.
On the one hand, Georgetown repeats that it is sovereign over “the entirety” of its territory. Guyana argues that the border, dating from the English colonial era, was ratified in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris.
On the other hand, Caracas believes that the Geneva agreement signed in 1966 — before Guyana’s independence — lays the foundations for a negotiated settlement that must continue and maintains that the Essequibo River must be the natural border, as in 1777 during the time of the Spanish Empire.
In December, the two presidents met, easing growing tension by agreeing to never “use force.” However, the two countries continue their battle of declarations.
Essequibo has some 125,000 inhabitants, or a fifth of Guyana’s population, and represents two-thirds of the country’s surface area.
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