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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuela navy intercepts Exxon oil ship in Guyanese waters: Guyana |
| 2018-12-24 |
| Venezuela’s navy on Saturday "intercepted" a ship exploring for oil on behalf of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) in Guyanese waters, neighboring Guyana’s foreign ministry said in a statement, in the latest incident in a century-old border dispute. A series of offshore oil discoveries in recent years have given Guyana the potential to become one of Latin America’s largest producers. In OPEC member Venezuela, by contrast, crude output has tumbled to its lowest levels in nearly 70 years amid an economic crisis. The Ramform Tethys vessel, which belongs to Norwegian company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) and was conducting seismic survey work on behalf of Exxon, stopped exploration and turned east after being approached by the Venezuelan navy, PGS spokesman Bard Stenberg said in a statement. "Guyana rejects this illegal, aggressive and hostile act," Guyana’s foreign ministry said in a late Saturday statement, adding that the move "demonstrates the real threat to Guyana’s economic development by its western neighbor" and "violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country." The ministry added that it would report the incident to the United Nations and send formal communication to Venezuela’s government. It said it would inform the governments of the various homelands of the 70 crew members aboard the vessel, flagged by the Bahamas, of the "threat to their safety." An Exxon spokeswoman said seismic explorations in the western portion of Guyana’s Stabroek Block "have been paused until they can be safely continued," and that the vessel was operating in Guyana’s exclusive economic zone. Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Russian fighter jets land in Crimea amid tensions Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro has previously criticized Guyana’s decision to allow oil exploration to go ahead in the waters off the shore of the Essequibo region, a sparsely populated and dense jungle area equivalent to around two-thirds of Guyanese territory that Venezuela also claims. Guyana says Caracas agreed to relinquish the area after a ruling by an international tribunal in 1899, but Venezuela later backtracked on that decision. The United Nations earlier this year referred the dispute to the International Court of Justice, a move welcomed by Georgetown but criticized by Caracas. The dispute has heated up in recent years as Exxon has announced the discovery of more than 4 billion barrels of oil off the shore of Guyana, an English-speaking nation of 750,000 with no history of oil production. The latest incident comes less than a day after Guyana’s parliament toppled the current government in a no-confidence vote, paving the way for elections in three months. |
| Posted by:746 |
| #7 Venezuelan Navy? Nothing there a couple of Mark 48s can't fix. Tell the Venezuelan navy to ask the Argentinians about the Belgrano. |
| Posted by: Boss Spoper5850 2018-12-24 14:23 |
| #6 There's a way to solve that problem. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2018-12-24 14:11 |
| #5 Venezuala has "territorial claims" on a large chunk of Guyana...Guayana Esequiba. This bleeds over into offshore claims. The inhabitants of Guayana have every reason to be nervous about their neighbor. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-12-24 12:32 |
| #4 Russia needs to do something to keep the price of oil elevated, and if it costs Venezuelan lives, well, their self-determination is mainly fictional right now anyway. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2018-12-24 08:28 |
| #3 This just might be the flashpoint needed to topple the Venezuela government -- a circumstance hoped for by the U.S. State and Defense Departments. |
| Posted by: Bertie Snunter9710 2018-12-24 07:23 |
| #2 ...Keep an eye on this one. The Venezuelans are just about at the "start a war to distract the population" point in the playbook. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2018-12-24 04:03 |
| #1 Next development could be that Venezuela changes the name of its currency from "bolivar" to "bolivarrrrrrgh!" |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2018-12-24 00:56 |