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US OIL giant ExxonMobil said on Sunday it was pushing for more offshore exploration rights in Guyana’s west — a region disputed by neighbouring Venezuela.
Spokeswoman Kimberly Brasington said the transnational corporation had asked environmental authorities in the former British colony to drill to up to 40 new wells as it develops the Liza Phase 2 offshore oil field. It already has 17 planned for the first phase.
Ms Brasington said the new project should kick in in 2022, two years after production is expected to start at the Liza 1 field.
The area lies off the remote western Essequibo region, a territory which Venezuela has claimed since the 19th century and which is still in dispute.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of ExxonMobil from 2006 until moving into government last year. US sanctions on Venezuela have intensified since then.
The Liza 1 deal was signed in 2015 after the election of President David Granger amid vote-rigging claims by the Peoples Progressive Party.
