Venezuela demands Guyana halt 'imperial' oil exploration

Caracas

VENEZUELA on Tuesday demanded that neighbouring Guyana halt oil exploration being carried out by Exxon Mobil Corp in disputed offshore territory in an escalation of a long-running border dispute between the two South American nations.

Exxon last month said it found oil off Guyana's coast, spurring complaints from Caracas that Guyana is unfairly exploiting a disputed territory that must be negotiated through a mechanism created via a 1966 treaty signed in Geneva. "Until there is a resolution of the issue of territorial reclamation ... there can be no unilateral use of these waters," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said. "The new government of Guyana shows a dangerous political provocation against a peaceful Venezuela, supported by the imperial power of an American transnational, Exxon Mobil."