Remi Piet: Venezuela Not a Shadow Over Guyana

This interview delves deeper into the relations between Guyana and Venezuela. Listen to the previous interview on Guyana’s future here.

Despite a long-standing territorial dispute, the situation between Guyana and Venezuela is unlikely to be something that Guyana or investors in Guyana should be concerned about, according to Remi Piet.

Piet, who is senior director at Americas Market Intelligence, was talking about the Guayana Esequiba, a densely forested frontier region de facto owned by Guyana, but claimed by Venezuela and its predecessors since the 17th century.

The reason why the region is in contention today is due to the oil discoveries by Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), which has major interests in offshore drilling. The discoveries are off the coast of the Esequibo.

“(The dispute) was not at the forefront of interest until the discovery of oil reserves,” said Piet.

The reserves are significant, with enough oil to make Guyana a new Qatar in energy, according to Piet. The company has plans to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil a day in the near term.

In the interview above, Piet went into detail on the background of the conflict and whether market watchers should be concerned about its potential to become more than a dispute in global remedial courts.

“It’s not something they need to be worried about, but something to keep a tab on,” he said. “Issues for investors in this region are probably reputation risk, security risks — the frontier between Venezuela and Guyana is not policed today.”

Piet also touched on how the French government approaches development of the mining industry in French Guiana — specifically the Montagne d’Or gold project which is held between Columbus Gold (TSX:CGT) and the Russia-headquartered Nordgold.

“Most of the politics (around mining) is not decided in French Guiana — it’s decided in Paris,” said Piet.

Listen to the full interview with Remi Piet above for his take on relations between Guyana and Venezuela and for his thoughts on the Macron administration’s approach to mining in the far-flung regions of France.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Scott Tibballs, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.