Reports of Venezuelan incursion next to Exxon operations

The government is investigating reports of an incursion into Guyanese territory by the Venezuelan military.

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge confirmed to the News Room that he was looking into this “urgent” matter.

News Room understands that the Venezuelan military approached one of the vessels sub-contracted by ExxonMobil, the American oil giant which has so far discovered an estimated five billion barrels of oil and is gearing up to begin production in just over a year from now.

ExxonMobil added its third drill ship – Noble Tom Madden – in August of this year to ramp up exploration activities.

This ship made the 10th discovery that was announced on December 3 and has since moved onto the Tilapia-1 prospect.

The other ships are the Noble Bob Douglas and Stena Carron.

This is a breaking story and the News Room will provide further details as it becomes available.