FILE – Highschool college students stroll previous ExxonMobil flags as they arrive to a job truthful on the College of Guyana in Georgetown, Guyana, April 21, 2023. ExxonMobil stated on Feb. 7, 2024 that it plans to probe for oil and fuel within the Essequibo, a area disputed between Guyana and Venezuela. Guyana awarded the exploration license. (AP Picture/Matias Delacroix, File)
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — ExxonMobil stated it plans to probe for oil and fuel in a disputed area off South America’s coast the place the Venezuelan army had beforehand expelled two U.S. oil firms. The transfer may escalate tensions between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana, which awarded the exploration license.
Guyana considers the realm a part of its Essequibo area, however Venezuela has lengthy claimed it as its personal, holding a referendum in December in which voters supported a push to annex it.
Robert Persaud, Guyana’s international secretary, instructed The Related Press on Wednesday that ExxonMobil has each proper to work in that area “as a result of it’s inside established Guyana waters in a totally demarcated space.”
The oil large stated Tuesday that it expects to drill two exploratory wells north and west of its prolific Stabroek block, the place three oil fields are producing near 650,000 barrels of oil a day.
The president of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, instructed reporters that the concessions had been granted by Guyana and that the corporate is dedicated to its operations regardless of the nation’s ongoing tensions with Venezuela.
“We aren’t going anyplace,” he stated.
Earlier makes an attempt to probe for oil and fuel in that space have failed. In 2019, ExxonMobil was pressured to desert exploration actions after a Venezuelan army helicopter tried to land on a seismic vessel. And in 2013, officers aboard a Venezuelan gunboat detained the crew of a seismic vessel contracted by a Texas petroleum firm for per week earlier than releasing them.
The newest push by ExxonMobil comes as Guyana and Venezuela put together to satisfy for a second time to attempt to diffuse the dispute over the Essequibo area. Following mediation talks in December, each side agreed to not threaten or use pressure towards one another however failed to achieve a decision.
In the meantime, the U.S. government is increasing its military aid to Guyana and has promised to assist purchase new plane, helicopters, a fleet of army drones and, for the primary time, radar know-how.
Essequibo is a mineral-rich territory that accounts for two-thirds of Guyana and lies close to massive offshore oil deposits. Military confrontation with Venezuela seems unlikely for now, however a number of nations have echoed Guyana’s issues over an annexation by its neighbor to the west.
