Venezuela has again objected to exploration for oil in local waters by US company ExxonMobil and has accused the firm of violating international laws.
“…your communication and actions openly contradict the due respect towards Public International Law and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, clearly showing your intention to subvert it, since privately and unilaterally you intend to perform unauthorised operations in a vast offshore space adjacent to our energy reserves in the so-called Stabroek block, which the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has not recognized, now or in the past,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez said in a letter to the company’s Country Manager Jeff Simon.
“Furthermore, this action constitutes a breach of the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1966, among other rules of Public International Law,” she said in the April 7 letter.
She said that when Caracas protested similar exploration activity on August 10, 1993 and July 13, 1999, the company did not go ahead with exploration activities but is doing so now.
In February this year, in a letter to Simon, Caracas objected to the planned offshore exploration for oil in local waters by Exxon – a move seen as another effort by Caracas to thwart Guyana’s search for petroleum. The move prompted the Foreign Affairs Ministry to write its counterpart in Venezuela urging that its government desist from actions that could contravene international law and prevent development.
In the most recent letter to Simon, the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister said that the situation cannot be decontextualized from the recent and “extraordinary” action of the US government that declared Venezuela to be “an unusual and extraordinary threat to its internal security and foreign policy,” which , according to Rodriguez “is disassociated but not unrelated to the hegemonic interests over the proven international reserves that are adjacent to the area in which you intend to operate.”
The minister said that Caracas will regard as “absolutely invalid” and contrary to international law and its constitutional order “any act that could facilitate the performance of non-consensual exploration and/or exploitation activities not authorised by the States concerned in the offshore area in question.” She urged ExxonMobil “to avoid any incursion into the aforementioned maritime space.”
Venezuelan authorities have a long history of objecting to drilling in Guyana’s waters. On October 10, 2013, Venezuelan naval forces seized the MV Teknik Perdana, a seismic exploration ship indirectly contracted to US oil company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Inc to explore the company’s Roraima Block offshore Guyana with a view to determining whether commercial quantities of hydrocarbon existed there.
Guyana has been adamant that the ship was intercepted in this country’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The 36-man multinational crew on the Malaysian-owned (Sapura-Kencana Petroleum) and the Panamanian registered oil survey vessel included scientists from the Texas-based researcher TDI-Brooks International.
The ship was intercepted by a Venezuelan naval vessel, the Yakuana, then ordered and escorted to the island of Margarita. Guyana demanded Venezuela’s explanation on why it seized a ship in Guyana’s waters, while Venezuela demanded an explanation from Guyana on why it gave permission for a ship to operate in its (Venezuela’s) waters.
Following the incident, a hastily arranged meeting between the foreign ministers of Guyana and Venezuela on October 17 resulted in a decision to have the countries’ technical experts meet in four months to discuss maritime delimitation. They also reiterated that dialogue and cooperation are the means for a peaceful solution of differences between States.
Caracas subsequently charged the captain of the vessel with allegedly violating Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone and the vessel and the rest of the crew were later released. The exploration plans of Anadarko have been put on hold.
The proposed meetings between technical teams from Georgetown and Caracas to discuss delimitation of the maritime boundaries of Guyana and Venezuela have also not been held due to the ongoing protests in the neighbouring country and other excuses offered by Caracas.
In the most recent incident, ExxonMobil has said that its operations are under a licence from the Government of Guyana and maintained that border issues are between governments and as such the drilling will continue in the Stabroek Block.
The Venezuelans have had conflicts with Exxon in their country and a World Bank tribunal has ordered that Caracas pay ExxonMobil US$1.6 billion in compensation for nationalizations.
