A Desperate Venezuela Teases an Oil Shock in Guyana
Maduro’s threat to seize resources from its neighbor is probably saber rattling, but the market is nervous.
Just bluffing?
Photographer: Gaby Oraa/Getty Images
Oil has a way of turning a local spat into a conflagration. Which is why Venezuela’s sudden escalation of its annexationist designs on neighboring Guyana can’t be dismissed entirely as theater. The United Nations Security Council will hold a closed-door session Friday on the brewing crisis.
To recap: Venezuela has long asserted claims to the western two-thirds of Guyana, based on disputed treaties dating back more than a century. The current regime of President Nicolas Maduro recently staged a referendum that purportedly showed overwhelming support for Venezuela to take control of the region and establish a state dubbed Guyana Essequibo. There have since been reports of troop movements to the border and warnings from the US to stick to diplomacy. Guyana has emerged as a major new area for oil development, following a string of discoveries by Exxon Mobil Corp., beginning in 2015. Maduro this week directed Venezuelan entities to start granting exploration licenses for the region he covets.