Guyana reaffirms sovereign rights over maritime areas and rejects Venezuela’s objection to lawful seismic survey

See full statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation:

The Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana has taken note of the communiqué issued by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela dated 11th March 2026, which purports to object to Guyana’s decision to advance a three-dimensional multi-client seismic exploration programme within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Guyana categorically rejects the assertions contained therein, which are legally unfounded, inaccurate, and entirely inconsistent with established principles of international law.

The Ministry wishes to remind the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that the Government of Guyana has the authority to grant permission for any activities within the maritime areas appurtenant to the coastal territory of Guyana, as defined by the Arbitral Award of 1899, which established the frontier between British Guiana and Venezuela. In such maritime areas, Guyana enjoys sovereignty up to 12 nautical miles in the territorial sea, and sovereign rights beyond 12 nautical miles in the Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf. The maritime areas in which the seismic survey will be conducted lie unequivocally within Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, over which Guyana exercises sovereign rights. These rights include the exclusive authority to explore, exploit, conserve and manage natural resources within its maritime jurisdiction. As such, Guyana’s decision to facilitate the acquisition of high-resolution seismic data through a 3D Multi-Client Seismic Survey represents a legitimate and lawful exercise of its rights and is entirely consistent with international law and established state practice.

The Government further underscores that the seismic acquisition initiative forms part of Guyana’s broader national strategy to strengthen the scientific understanding of its offshore petroleum basin, enhance transparency in resource management, and improve the attractiveness of Guyana’s offshore acreage to responsible international investors. The programme will employ advanced geophysical techniques to generate high-resolution subsurface imagery that supports exploration planning and strengthens the long-term governance of Guyana’s offshore energy sector.

Accordingly, Guyana firmly rejects Venezuela’s attempt to characterise these lawful activities as occurring within “undelimited maritime areas.” Such claims constitute a deliberate misrepresentation of both the geographic and legal realities governing Guyana’s maritime jurisdiction. The Government of Guyana has consistently exercised peaceful administration and jurisdiction over its maritime spaces, including the licensing and regulation of offshore exploration activities. These actions are undertaken in strict conformity with international law and with due regard to the rights and entitlement of other States.

It should be recalled that when the boundary between the two States was definitively settled more than a century ago by the 1899 Arbitral Award, Venezuela accepted and benefited from that settlement and the legal certainty it provided. That Award brought finality to the territorial boundary and enabled both States to exercise the full rights and advantages arising from their respective territories and maritime projections. It is therefore particularly incongruous that Venezuela, having historically benefited from the stability and legal clarity afforded by that settlement, now seeks to challenge Guyana’s sovereign right to utilise and develop the resources contained within the territory and maritime areas that lawfully appertain to Guyana.

On this basis, Guyana respectfully rejects the protest by Venezuela and likewise rejects the notion that any portion of its maritime space or continental shelf appertains to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Guyana recalls that the Geneva Agreement of 1966 governs the resolution of the controversy which has arisen because of Venezuela’s contention, first made in 1962, that the Arbitral Award of 1899, which settled the land boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela, is null and void. That Agreement imposes no obligation on Guyana to refrain from economic development activities in any portion of its territory or in any appurtenant maritime areas.

Moreover, Venezuela’s assertion that it will not recognise concessions, licences or activities authorised by Guyana in its maritime domain is wholly without legal effect. Under international law, no State may arrogate to itself the authority to invalidate the lawful sovereign decisions of another State within its own territory or maritime zones. Venezuela’s statements therefore represent an unwarranted attempt to interfere with Guyana’s sovereign right to pursue its economic development and manage its natural resources for the benefit of its people.

The Ministry therefore calls upon the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to refrain from issuing inflammatory and misleading statements that seek to undermine Guyana’s sovereign rights or discourage legitimate economic activity within Guyana’s maritime domain.