I guess if the deal is off, you just move in the back door with guns drawn.
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🇬🇾🛢 #Venezuela protests #oil production in territories disputed with #Guyana
The Venezuelan government has protested against the issuance by the Guyana authorities of concessions to multinational oil and gas giants for oil production on the sea shelf and in connection with maneuvers of the @USMILITARY forces in the disputed territories.
The long-running territorial dispute between the two countries over the ownership of a 159,500-square-kilometer territory west of the Essequibo River, dubbed Guyana-Essequibo, claimed by Caracas, has been aggravated by Guyana's granting of oil concessions to #ExxonMobil. The offshore borders of the area are not delimited for now. Moreover, the #US plans to deploy a #militarybase in the disputed territory.
"Venezuela informs the international community and transnational energy companies that have illegally obtained permits from the government of Guyana for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons in a large maritime area, the borders of which are not delimited, that these permits are absolutely groundless, contrary to international law and the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It may look like in search for new oil sources the #US and #multinational companies are getting ready for a new local conflict. But Venezuela is not in a position to engage in a full-scale military conflict with the United States. The concessions have been issued just few days after the controversial oil deal (https://t.me/songofoil/336) between #Caracas and #Washington. The oil production on the shelf of Guyana can be a part of that oil deal.