Tensions between the US and Venezuela are growing over Guyana, after a new oil discovery
Venezuela's Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino, said on Friday that his country would respond "proportionately" to "provocations " that occurred in waters disputed with neighboring Guyana, while Washington conducted military exercises in the area. A few hours later, the US giant ExxonMobil announced a new oil "discovery" in the same waters.
Padrino accused the United States of “irresponsibly interfering” in the territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo, an oil-rich area of nearly 160,000 square kilometers controlled by Georgetown since 1899, but which Caracas claims was illegally seized.
The Defense Minister criticized Washington for promoting military exercises in waters that Venezuela considers unconfined and that Guyana considers an integral part of its geography.
“This zone of peace is in danger due to the presence of the (US) Southern Command in the lands and waters to be demarcated between Venezuela and Guyana,” Padrino said.
A day earlier, Laura Richardson, commander of the US Southern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Guyana is a “very important partner” and that “we see what the Maduro regime and Venezuela are doing (… ) against this democracy with an unjustified claim."
He went on to say that the United States has a “very robust plan with Guyana” that includes “visits,” “engagements,” “exercises” and “exchanges of topics” that, he said, do not seek to “exacerbate the situation (… ) but to continue our regular commitment."
Another oil discovery raises the stakes
Exxon Discovery ExxonMobil announced on Friday a new oil 'discovery' off the coast of Guyana, located in an exploration well called Bluefin, in the Stabroek Block.
The company has not provided an estimate of the amount of reserves recoverable from the discovery, but there is talk of a significant layer of hydrocarbon-rich sands encountered during drilling.
The Stabroek Block, located more than 200 kilometers off the coast of Guyana, currently produces around 380,000 barrels per day and Exxon expects it to produce more than 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2027. It will be one of largest new deposits in 2024,
Prior to Bluefin's discovery, the company announced that the block had gross recoverable resources estimated at nearly 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The block lies in the territorial waters of the Essequibo, an area of nearly 160,000 square kilometers that was under Venezuelan jurisdiction at independence from Spain in 1811 but was later annexed by the British to form British Guiana. It seems clear that its proximity to the border with Venezuela puts it in danger and exposes it to territorial demands from Caracas. This discovery dangerously adds to the stakes between the two countries and increases the relevance of military assistance to Guyana. Which, among other things, comes from the country where Exxon is based.
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The article Tensions between the US and Venezuela grow for Guyana after a new oil discovery comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/le-tensioni-fra-usa-e-venezuela-crescono-per-la-guyana-dopo-una-nuova-scoperta-petrolifera/ on Sun, 17 Mar 2024 08:00:24 +0000.