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Guyana accuses Venezuela of attempting to stymie development
Tensions between Guyana and its neighbouring country of Venezuela have reached a new level following objections by the Spanish-speaking country to Exxon Mobil’s offshore oil exploration in local waters.
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez
Venezuela’s objection has since seen the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writing to a number of organisations, informing them about “this recent action by Venezuela”.
An issue first arose when Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez communicated with the Country Manager of Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited and indicated an objection to the dispatch of an oil rig to an offshore area known as Stabroek Block. Permission for oil exploration had been given via a concession granted by the Government of Guyana.
In response, the Guyana Foreign Affairs Ministry dispatched a Note Verbale to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry and accused the country of engaging in actions which stymied the development of Guyana.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela desist from taking any actions that could only result in the stymieing of the development of Guyana and its people and that would be in contravention of international law,” the Guyana ministry said.
However, the war of words did not stop there and the Ministry also said it wrote to the United Nations General Secretary, the Commonwealth, CARICOM, UNASUR, and the Organisation of American States.
An Exxon Mobil rig known as the Deep Water Champion departed on February 19 from Louisiana, USA and is scheduled to arrive at the offshore location to commence drilling in mid-March.
Over the years, the Venezuelan government has not only claimed the land west of the Essequibo River as its own but also offshore areas
Reports also indicated that Exxon Mobil had acquired two helicopters to help carry out its work. The oil and gas company has reportedly invested hundreds of millions of American dollars for drilling in the Stabroek Block.
This latest battle between Guyana and Venezuela has seemingly surfaced over more border contentions. The proposed oil exploration area known as the Stabroek Block is just offshore of an area Venezuela claims as its own. However, Guyana is maintaining that the area covered does not belong to its neighbouring country.
In October 2013, a vessel was seized in the Roraima Block by Venezuelan authorities. The vessel, MV Teknik Perdana, was conducting a 2D Marine Seismic Survey for Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation when it was detained.
The US-based company had been awarded a concession from Guyana to conduct its seismic study.
The vessel’s 36-man crew, including five Americans and workers from Russia, Indonesia and Brazil, were subsequently released after a week. However, those exploration plans have since been suspended with no real word coming from the Venezuelan government on a way forward.
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