Venezuela protests to Guyana due to incursion of oil exploration vessels

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela formally protested to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana for the incursion into its jurisdictional waters of two seismic exploration vessels, Ramfor of the Bahamas flag and Delta Monarch of the Trinidad and Tobago flag, both hired by the transnational ExxonMobil and whose crew claimed to have a permit from the Guyanese Government. Through a Note of Protest, the Venezuelan Executive reiterated his categorical rejection of the unilateral, unconscionable and arbitrary activities of exploration, or of any other nature, on unmarked maritime areas, which Guyana has been facilitating to hydrocarbons transnationals. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reported Monday that the Bolivarian National Navy, carrying out its customary patrols for the Venezuelan Atlantic façade, corresponding to the day 12/22/2018, in charge of the Kariña Oceanic Patrolman (PO-14), spotted the unprecedented presence of two seismic exploration vessels in jurisdictional waters of Venezuela. The referred ships were located at the coordinates Latitude 09 ° 17 ‘4 “N Longitude 058 ° 15’ 7” W and Latitude 09 ° 15 ‘0 “Longitude 058 ° 17’ 3” W, in the maritime projection of the Orinoco Delta being indubitable under sovereignty of Venezuela. Faced with this flagrant violation of national sovereignty, the corresponding international protocols were applied and the General Secretary of the United Nations, António Guterres, was notified. Previously, the Government of Venezuela expressed to Guyana its strongest protest for the Notice to Navigators N ° 31 (2018) dated December 6, 2018, which indicates that the company ExxonMobil through its subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (Eepgl) that said day, and until December 31 began, in what they falsely call the maritime zone of Guyana a seismic survey campaign with the presence of two vessels. In this regard, the Venezuelan Executive reiterated his categorical objection based on the most elementary principles of international law.