ExxonMobil says it will stay in Guyana for the long term despite territorial dispute with Venezuela

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Oil giant ExxonMobil says it will keep ramping up production in offshore Guyana despite the escalation of a territorial dispute with neighboring Venezuela, which claims that oil-rich region as its own. ExxonMobil Guyana said in a brief statement posted Monday that it was reaffirming its “long-term commitment to Guyana” as tensions grow between the two countries. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro proposed earlier this month that mining and oil companies operating in the Essequibo region located in Guyana should withdraw their operations within three months. His government also is seeking to ban companies operating in Guyana from doing so in his country.