Attack on Guyana or Exxon would be ‘bad day’ for Venezuela, Rubio says

It would be “a very bad day” for Venezuela if it were to attack its neighbor Guyana or U.S.-based energy giant ExxonMobil, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today during a visit to Guyana’s capital.

Guyana and Venezuela are locked in a long-running dispute about which country has rights over the 62,000-square-mile (160,000-square-km) Esequibo area, which is the subject of an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice.

Washington has offered military support to the tiny South American country amid the territorial dispute and increasing U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.

The U.S. Navy cruiser Normandy and the Guyana Defence Force patrol vessel Shahoud were conducting exercises in international waters and the Guyana Exclusive Economic Zone, the U.S. embassy in Guyana said in a social media post early on Thursday.

Tensions rose early this month when Guyana said a Venezuela coast guard patrol entered its waters and approached an output vessel in an offshore oil block operated by Exxon.

A consortium by Exxon, Hess and China’s CNOOC controls all oil and gas output in Guyana, which this year is producing some 650,000 barrels per day.

The northwest portion of the block, close to Venezuela, has remained in force majeure as the Exxon group has been unable to complete exploration there.

Venezuela’s communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Venezuela has previously said the vessel did not enter Guyanese waters as the maritime zone delimitation is still pending as part of the territorial dispute.