One week after the Government of Guyana announced the advancement of the 3D Multi-Client Seismic Acquisition as it seeks to map out a large area offshore Guyana to enable more oil and gas exploration, the Venezuelan Government is objecting to the survey being done.

In a statement today, the Venezuelan Government complained that the announcement was done without consultation. But Guyana does not need to consult with Venezuela for exploration of its resources offshore Guyana.

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the announcement made by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana regarding the start of a three-dimensional seismic exploration campaign in maritime areas that that country intends to present unilaterally as part of its supposed “exclusive economic zone”, the Venezuelan Government said in the statement.

Venezuela has laid claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and the border controversy is currently before the International Court of Justice for determination.  Although Venezuela has rejected that Court process, it has been participating in the process.

Guyana has been facing acts of aggression and threats from Venezuela over the years, with that problem reaching a tipping point in late 2024 when Venezuelan navy boats ventured in to Guyana’s waters to question the captains of the oil vessels operating within Guyana’s waters.

In its latest statement Venezuela did not mention the decades-old border controversy, but claims that Guyana has expressed its intention to carry out “unilateral exploration activities” on part of the maritime spaces that are pending delimitation, in open contravention of fundamental principles of international law.

“Venezuela requires the Government of Guyana to refrain from carrying out unilateral acts that could harm customary law principles that govern the international relations of coastal countries and in particular those that prohibit States from taking measures that could create or aggravate differences and depart from the framework of international law, as well as from compliance with agreements and guiding principles,” the Venezuelan government said.

Venezuela reiterated that it does not recognize and will not recognize any concession, license or activity for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources in un-delimited maritime areas that have been granted by Guyana, nor the rights that third parties seek to derive from such illegal acts.

In announcing the survey last week, government said, the 3D seismic survey is an advanced geophysical method that uses sound waves to create detailed, three-dimensional, high-resolution images of the earth’s subsurface, primarily used for mapping geological structures, identifying oil and gas deposits and optimising drilling.

The statement from the Venezuelan Government is its firm claim to Guyana’s territory since the arrest and ouster of its President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year by the US military. Maduro is in a New York jail awaiting trial on narco trafficking allegations.

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