Guyana has strengthened military cooperation with France to safeguard the oil-rich Essequibo region, escalating tensions with Venezuela just as the United States expands maritime strikes on vessels linked to Caracas.
The defense announcement follows new reports of French assistance in surveillance and air patrols over Guyana’s western frontier, where ExxonMobil-led production continues to rise above 640,000 barrels per day, UPI reported.
Venezuela maintains its long-standing claim over Essequibo, an area that encompasses most of Guyana’s proven offshore reserves, which now rank among the largest discoveries of the century. Caracas argues the 1899 arbitral award granting the region to then-British Guiana is invalid and continues to reject the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Guyana has filed its case.
French defense officials said the partnership aims to reinforce “regional stability and maritime domain awareness,” while Georgetown emphasized that its growing oil output requires stronger security coordination as exports climb toward 800,000 bpd by mid-2026.
The new alignment comes amid renewed confrontation between Washington and Caracas.
Over the past week, U.S. forces have carried out at least four strikes on what the Pentagon described as “drug-trafficking vessels” operating near Venezuelan waters. One attack killed four crew members after a speedboat was hit in international waters off the Paria Peninsula. President Donald Trump has defended the actions under expanded rules of engagement against cartels, while Venezuelan officials denounced them as “acts of war.”
The tensions now reach into two of South America’s main oil zones. In Guyana, production led by ExxonMobil and its partners has topped 640,000 barrels a day and is expected to double by 2027 as new fields come online. Just across the border, Venezuela holds the world’s largest crude reserves but remains trapped under U.S. sanctions and chronic underinvestment. The two stories are now intermingling, with one country expanding output under Western backing, and the other struggling to sell its oil as U.S. warships patrol nearby waters.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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