Venezuela wants to claim Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo

Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, is going ahead and claiming neighboring Guyana’s disputed oil-rich Essequibo region. The area accounts for two-thirds of Guyana. In 2022, its GDP increased 62.3%.

Caracas proposed a bill to create a Venezuelan province in the region and ordered the state oil company to issue licenses for extracting crude there.

Maduro’s announcement came after 95% of Venezuelan voters approved a referendum claiming Essequibo belonged to them. He even renamed the territory “Guayana Esequiba” and unveiled a new map of Venezuela, which includes the disputed area.

Maduro has given foreign operators three months to cease their operations.

Guyanese President Irfaan Ali called the move an “existential threat” to the nation’s “territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.” He has put the Guyana Defense Force on high alert.

The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Venezuela not to take any actions that may change the status quo and to wait till a ruling is reached on the dispute—which may take years.

History
Larger than Greece, the jungle-filled Essequibo region has territorial disputes dating back to 1841. In 1899, an international Tribunal of Arbitration settled the issue, placing the region under British Guiana’s control, which later became Guyana.

Oil reserves were found off the Essequibos coast in 2015, and Guyana became one of the fastest-growing economies. The discovery of oil revived the territorial dispute.

The region holds great economic potential for Venezuela, which has been grappling with hyperinflation and economic crises.

American energy giants ExxonMobil and Hess have oil fields in Essequibo through a profit-sharing agreement with Guyana.