Venezuela warns ExxonMobil against oil search offshore Essequibo

Last Updated on Thursday, 8 February 2024, 7:34 by Denis Chabrol

Venezuela has reacted sharply to ExxonMobil’s plans to drill  exploration wells offshore the Essequibo Region, but records show that this is not the first time that the company has done so.

ExxonMobil had drilled Ranger, Tarpon and Tanager wells that are west of the Essequibo River with no response by the Nicolas Maduro administration. Tanager was plugged because it is not commercially viable.

But on Wednesday, Venezuela’s Minister of Defence, Vladimir Padrino warned that if ExxonMobil operates within the area of the maritime dispute with Guyana, it would take action. “If ExxonMobil has a private security company represented by the Southern Command, and a unit of the Government of Guyana in the maritime space, that by right belongs to Venezuela, they will receive a proportional, forceful and legal response,” the official said on X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Padrino was responding to the President of ExxonMobil, Alistair Routledge who said the 2024 drilling campaign would include a search for oil at Trumpet Fish and Redmouth, west of oil producing well at Liza and Payara.

ExxonMobil maintains that its ongoing drilling operations are well within the confines of Guyana’s globally recognized borders, which were established 125 years ago.

Venezuela’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday said ExxonMobil’s plans amounted to a breach of the Argyle Declaration between President Irfaan Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.

Guyana continues to reject Venezuela’s position that the dispute over the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award that settled the land boundary between the two countries should be negotiated bilaterally rather than adjudicated through the International Court of Justice (ICJ).