GENEVA, January 17. /TASS/. Colombian President Gustavo Petro believes any oil production projects should be inadmissible in the disputed region of Essequibo, a petroleum-rich area controlled by Guyana but to which Venezuela has longstanding territorial claims.

"The matter lies not in who owns [the territory of] Essequibo, but rather in that no oil production whatsoever should be carried out there," Petro said, speaking at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in a discussion panel regarding efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest. According to the Colombian leader, the planet is facing a climate crisis, and thus oil and natural gas resources should be preserved so as to preclude further environmental damage.

"Guyana and Venezuela should be given compensation so that no oil is produced in the Amazon jungle on the territory of Essequibo," Petro insisted. "This issue could be [made the responsibility of] England or the United States," he added.

The dispute between Caracas and Georgetown over ownership of the 159,500 square kilometer territory west of the Essequibo River has been ongoing for over a century. The territorial dispute has been further aggravated by the discovery in 2015 of oil fields containing at least 10 bln barrels of oil and the granting by Guyana of a concession to oil major ExxonMobil for petroleum production on Guyana’s continental shelf, the boundaries of which have not been demarcated.

On December 14, Venezuela and Guyana agreed not to use force over their border dispute, following negotiations in Kingstown, capital of Caribbean island nation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Both parties also committed to ensuring that Latin America remains a zone of peace and said that they would refrain from making any moves that might escalate the situation in the disputed border region.