MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. US oil giant ExxonMobil has a lot to gain from the unrest that is sweeping Venezuela amid the country’s presidential election, as Nicolas Maduro stands in the way of its oil interests, Alexander Stepanov, military expert, program director of the Academy of Political Sciences, told TASS.
Protests and clashes with the police have rocked the Venezuelan capital amid the recently held election. Protesters are chanting anti-government slogans, accusing the authorities of tampering with the vote.
"Who wants Nicolas Maduro out? We should think logically about who gains from this. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods is the potential beneficiary. American company ExxonMobil, through corrupt connections in Guyana’s government and so-called lobbying, has ensured access to oil fields on the disputed territory of the Essequibo region, which was officially recognized by Venezuela as its 24th state in 2023," he said.
For the United States, Guyana’s draw is its reserves of hydrocarbons that were explored back in 2015, potentially more than 30 high-quality offshore fields, said Stepanov, who is also a senior research fellow at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILA RAN). Total oil reserves in this section are estimated at 11 bln barrels. Three major fields are currently being developed, he noted. According to projections, the country may reach production levels of 1.2 mln barrels of oil per day by 2027.
"ExxonMobil, which is developing the discovered fields, plans to produce 800,000 barrels per day there as early as in 2025. The plan is to invest $20-25 bln in the development of production infrastructure per year until 2027," Stepanov said.
In 2023, Maduro’s government set out to bring Essequibo back under its legitimate control, the expert noted. "Isn’t this reason enough to overthrow an unwanted Maduro regime that is trying to ‘aggressively’ foil their business plan to exploit someone else’s resources?" he asked rhetorically. Moreover, last year Maduro announced that the country wanted to accelerate its move away from the dollar in global trade, Stepanov said, adding that he expects Venezuela to abandon the American currency in economic transactions. The country officially applied for BRICS membership in August 2023.
The presidential election was held in Venezuela on July 28. According to a statement by the National Electoral Council published after 80% of ballots were counted, incumbent president Nicolas Maduro was supported by 5,150,092 voters or 51.2%. His main opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez who is representing right-wing parties, garnered 4,445,978 votes or 44.2%. Opposition leader Corina Machado did not recognize the election results, alleging election fraud, and proclaimed Gonzalez the winner.