The oil conflict between Venezuela and Guyana has reached a dangerous turn that could spiral out of control, following the threat issued by Caracas to crude developers operating in the area located in the disputed territorial waters between the two countries.
Venezuela stands out as one of the oil-rich countries, but the US sanctions imposed on Caracas have negatively affected production and marketing, as a result of the reluctance of international companies to invest and cooperate with them.
Guyana has oil reserves of more than 10 billion barrels in 12 areas under the waters of the Caribbean Sea that have been explored so far.
In the latest developments in the oil conflict between Venezuela and Guyana, the former gave the American company ExxonMobil (ExxonMobil) and other offshore oil producers a 90-day deadline to stop its operations in the disputed waters off the coast of Guyana, according to The Argus media website specializing in energy affairs.
This threat comes within the framework of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to seize the Essequibo region west of Guyana, which has been disputed for more than half a century, and this threat is followed by an intensification of the Venezuelan military presence on the border separating the two countries.
Maduro has published a new map showing oil-rich Essequibo, under the administration of neighboring Guyana, as a new Venezuelan state, and Maduro also plans to print Venezuelan identity cards for current residents of the region.
