No clarity has been offered by Exxon Mobil and a seismic research company that had been hired by it for searching for oil off the coast of Guyana on Monday following halting of the work after a confrontation with the navy of Venezuela during the weekend. The oil major declined to confirm the possible date when exploration might be resumed
Both the South American countries had claimed – through their foreign ministries, that the incident during the weekend had taken place on seas that is within their territorial control. Even as the Irving, Texas-based Exxon has managed to locate more than 5 billion barrels of oil and gas off Guyana's shores, there has been a heated dispute in recent years over a century-long border dispute between the countries.
A confrontation with a Venezuelan navy vessel on Saturday forced two ships that are owned by Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services to stop seismic survey activities. Officials said that there were no injuries to the 70 crew members on board the ships and the Venezuelan navy did not board the ships.
Referring questions to PGS about when the survey operations would restart, Exxon declined to mention any date about the restart. When asked questions about any resumption of the work or if the company has sought protection for its vessels in the future from the Guyana government, Bard Stenberg, a PGS senior vice president, declined to comment on any of the issues.
Stenberg said on Monday that the Ramform Tethys and Delta Monarch, were the two ships that belonged to PGS that were involved in the confrontation.
"A couple hours later we learned that the Venezuelan navy had withdrawn from the area," he added.
There were no comments from Guyana's Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge.
The Essequibo region which is a sparsely populated area which accounts for up two-thirds of Guyana's territory over which Venezuela also has historical claims, has been a bone of contention between the countries for tears. Opponents of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro claimed that debate and tensions was reignited by the Venezuelan government to vie away public attention from the very acute economic crisis that the OPEC-member nation is going through with historic levels of inflation ever seen in the world.
The present state of the economy is in sharp contrast to the presence of large crude reserves present in Venezuela which is amongst the largest in the world. However, issues with cash and the economy of Venezuela resulted in crude production reaching the lowest levels in more than 70 years for the country. The Venezuelan oil industry has been crippled because of underinvestment, hyperinflation, and mismanagement of the industry which is effectively under the control of the military.
The latest confrontation incident rekindled memories of a similar incident of October 2013 when a ship carrying out a seabed survey for Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp in Guyana was seized by Venezuela's navy allegedly for violation its maritime territory.
(Source:www.channelnewsasia.com)
Both the South American countries had claimed – through their foreign ministries, that the incident during the weekend had taken place on seas that is within their territorial control. Even as the Irving, Texas-based Exxon has managed to locate more than 5 billion barrels of oil and gas off Guyana's shores, there has been a heated dispute in recent years over a century-long border dispute between the countries.
A confrontation with a Venezuelan navy vessel on Saturday forced two ships that are owned by Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services to stop seismic survey activities. Officials said that there were no injuries to the 70 crew members on board the ships and the Venezuelan navy did not board the ships.
Referring questions to PGS about when the survey operations would restart, Exxon declined to mention any date about the restart. When asked questions about any resumption of the work or if the company has sought protection for its vessels in the future from the Guyana government, Bard Stenberg, a PGS senior vice president, declined to comment on any of the issues.
Stenberg said on Monday that the Ramform Tethys and Delta Monarch, were the two ships that belonged to PGS that were involved in the confrontation.
"A couple hours later we learned that the Venezuelan navy had withdrawn from the area," he added.
There were no comments from Guyana's Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge.
The Essequibo region which is a sparsely populated area which accounts for up two-thirds of Guyana's territory over which Venezuela also has historical claims, has been a bone of contention between the countries for tears. Opponents of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro claimed that debate and tensions was reignited by the Venezuelan government to vie away public attention from the very acute economic crisis that the OPEC-member nation is going through with historic levels of inflation ever seen in the world.
The present state of the economy is in sharp contrast to the presence of large crude reserves present in Venezuela which is amongst the largest in the world. However, issues with cash and the economy of Venezuela resulted in crude production reaching the lowest levels in more than 70 years for the country. The Venezuelan oil industry has been crippled because of underinvestment, hyperinflation, and mismanagement of the industry which is effectively under the control of the military.
The latest confrontation incident rekindled memories of a similar incident of October 2013 when a ship carrying out a seabed survey for Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp in Guyana was seized by Venezuela's navy allegedly for violation its maritime territory.
(Source:www.channelnewsasia.com)
