Guyana rejects Venezuela’s opposition to its offshore seismic exploration plans

Mar 13, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The government of Guyana on Thursday firmly rejected Venezuela’s objection to Guyana’s decision to advance a three-dimensional multi-client seismic exploration programme within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Guyana announced its decision to partner with a company to conduct a 3D multi-client seismic survey covering approximately 25,000 square kilometres offshore on Monday. The Ministry of Natural Resources announced a partnership with Viridien to conduct the offshore survey aimed at de-risking the basin and attracting investment. According to the ministry, the survey will cover all 11 blocks from the 2022 Licencing Round located south of the Stabroek Block and extending to the Guyana–Suriname border.

In a communiqué issued on March 11, Caracas said it “categorically rejects” Guyana’s decision to proceed with exploration activities in areas Guyana considers part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“Once again, Guyana reiterates its intention to carry out unilateral exploration activities over part of the maritime spaces that are pending delimitation, in open contravention of fundamental principles of international law,” the Venezuelan government said.

The Spanish-speaking nation called on Guyana to refrain from unilateral actions that could violate principles of customary international law governing relations between coastal states, particularly measures that could create or aggravate differences and depart from the framework of international law.

Caracas also warned that it does not recognise any concession, licence or activity related to the exploration or exploitation of natural resources in maritime areas it considers undelimited. The long-standing border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after Venezuela laid claim to Guyana’s resource-rich Essequibo region.

However, in response to Venezuela, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Thursday said it “categorically rejects the assertions contained therein, which are legally unfounded, inaccurate, and entirely inconsistent with established principles of international law.”

“The Ministry wishes to remind the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that the Government of Guyana has the authority to grant permission for any activities within the maritime areas appurtenant to the coastal territory of Guyana, as defined by the Arbitral Award of 1899, which established the frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela. In such maritime areas, Guyana enjoys sovereignty up to 12 nautical miles in the territorial sea, and sovereign rights beyond 12 nautical miles in the Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf.”

Further, the statement said that the maritime areas in which the seismic survey will be conducted lie unequivocally within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, over which Guyana exercises sovereign rights. “These rights include the exclusive authority to explore, exploit, conserve and manage natural resources within its maritime jurisdiction. As such, Guyana’s decision to facilitate the acquisition of high-resolution seismic data through a 3D Multi-Client Seismic Survey represents a legitimate and lawful exercise of its rights and is entirely consistent with international law and established state practice.”

The Government noted too that the seismic acquisition initiative forms part of Guyana’s broader national strategy to strengthen the scientific understanding of its offshore petroleum basin, enhance transparency in resource management, and improve the attractiveness of Guyana’s offshore acreage to responsible international investors. The programme will employ advanced geophysical techniques to generate high-resolution subsurface imagery that supports exploration planning and strengthens the long-term governance of Guyana’s offshore energy sector, the statement said.

Accordingly, Guyana firmly rejects Venezuela’s attempt to characterise these lawful activities as occurring within “undelimited maritime areas.”

The ministry said that “Such claims constitute a deliberate misrepresentation of both the geographic and legal realities governing Guyana’s maritime jurisdiction. The Government of Guyana has consistently exercised peaceful administration and jurisdiction over its maritime spaces, including the licensing and regulation of offshore exploration activities. These actions are undertaken in strict conformity with international law and with due regard to the rights and entitlement of other States.”

Additionally, Guyana reminded that when the boundary between the two States was definitively settled more than a century ago by the 1899 Arbitral Award, Venezuela accepted and benefited from that settlement and the legal certainty it provided. That Award brought finality to the territorial boundary and enabled both States to exercise the full rights and advantages arising from their respective territories and maritime projections. However, Caracas later claimed the award was null and void. In 2018, Guyana filed a case at the ICJ seeking a ruling that the award is valid and legally binding.

“It is therefore particularly incongruous that Venezuela, having historically benefited from the stability and legal clarity afforded by that settlement, now seeks to challenge Guyana’s sovereign right to utilise and develop the resources contained within the territory and maritime areas that lawfully appertain to Guyana.”

As a result, Guyana rejects the protest by Venezuela and the notion that any portion of its maritime space or continental shelf appertains to Venezuela.

Guyana also reminded that the Geneva Agreement of 1966 governs the resolution of the controversy which has arisen because of Venezuela’s contention, first made in 1962, that the Arbitral Award of 1899, which settled the land boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela, is null and void. That Agreement imposes no obligation on Guyana to refrain from economic development activities in any portion of its territory or in any appurtenant maritime areas.

“Moreover, Venezuela’s assertion that it will not recognise concessions, licences or activities authorised by Guyana in its maritime domain is wholly without legal effect. Under international law, no State may arrogate to itself the authority to invalidate the lawful sovereign decisions of another State within its own territory or maritime zones. Venezuela’s statements therefore represent an unwarranted attempt to interfere with Guyana’s sovereign right to pursue its economic development and manage its natural resources for the benefit of its people.”

The government of Guyana called on the government of Venezuela “to refrain from issuing inflammatory and misleading statements that seek to undermine Guyana’s sovereign rights or discourage legitimate economic activity within Guyana’s maritime domain.”

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• Caracas, Guyana-Venezuela, offshore seismic exploration, Stabroek Block, Viridien

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