Venezuela’s remapping will be under close watch-says Foreign Affairs Minister

Venezuela’s remapping will be under close watch—says Foreign Affairs Minister

Jan 13, 2019 News

Just a few days ago, Venezuela announced to the world, plans to remap its Caribbean oil and gas prospects. But concerns have since been raised that this move could further stoke a century-long border dispute the Spanish speaking nation has with Guyana.
Speaking with Kaieteur News recently on this matter, Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, said that Venezuela’s remapping efforts will be under close watch to ensure that confusing or misleading information is not disseminated.
Greenidge said, “Today it is possible to do almost anything from where you sit. We know that Venezuela had announced in the past that it was mapping the land territory and as long as they don’t trespass on our territory they can do it.
“As long as they don’t then take the information and publish it in a manner that will confuse the public and be dangerous so that our territory appears to be in Venezuela, they can do it. But as I said, it depends on what they do.”
He added, “It is safe to say that we will be monitoring it to ensure that it does not cause confusion and it is not misleading.”
On Wednesday, it was Bloomberg which had originally reported that Venezuela’s seismic survey for the remapping is planned for the coming months and will include an eastern area of Venezuela that borders Guyana. Officials at state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, declined to comment to Bloomberg on the matter.
The international news site also recalled that Venezuela reignited the old border dispute last month after intercepting two ships conducting seismic studies for Exxon as the oil major prepares to develop giant deep-water reserves off the coast of Guyana.
Venezuela has mapped its offshore territory for oil deposits in the past, but some areas remain uncharted. The new survey will also include areas bordering Caribbean

Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge

islands such as Grenada and Saint Vincent.

“More surveys are pending to identify commercially viable options for gas,” said Antero Alvarado, a managing partner at consulting firm Gas Energy Latin America to Bloomberg. “Past PDVSA studies ignored identifying gas deposits because the focus was always on oil.’’
Following an encounter last month with the Venezuelan navy, one of the two ships hired by Exxon will conduct seismic surveys in Guyanese waters away from the border, while the other will no longer be used, the Irving, Texas-based company said Monday.
Guyana, which has U.S. backing for its ownership claim over the waters, said Venezuela broke international law. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has said the territory belongs to his country and vowed to defend it “at any cost.”
Maduro issued a decree a week after the interception stating Venezuela’s continental shelf is open for oil exploration, although no investment plans have been announced for the area yet.
PDVSA’s offshore division produces mainly gas from the western coast in a partnership with Italy’s ENI SpA. It also has several inactive oil and gas projects in the east, near Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Three of them are in partnerships with Norway’s Equinor ASA, Chevron Corp. and France’s Total SA.

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