Guyana beats Venezuela in oil exports during border dispute

The border dispute between oil-rich Venezuela and Guyana got a new twist with Guyana exporting more oil than its neighbor for the third straight month. 

Guyana’s daily exports were 621,000 barrels in February, higher than Venezuela’s 604,000 barrels, according to vessel movements compiled by Bloomberg. 

Venezuela and Guyana have disputed the Essequibo region for nearly a century but tensions escalated after the discovery of massive oil basins in recent years off Guyana’s coast. The country has seen an influx of investments by companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. 

Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserve and once a big swing player in the global oil market, saw production slump after the US imposed sanctions aimed at replacing President Nicolas Maduro. The recent easing of sanctions allowed production to rebound to a 4-year high but it still remains below half of what it was before sanctions. 

Guyana recently started producing oil from a third development, Payara, operated by Exxon. The country went from producing zero oil 3 years ago to pumping 637,000 barrels on Jan. 31.