Good afternoon, here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• Is Venezuela about to Invade Guyana?

• “Absolutely Not,” Says Saudi on Oil, Gas Phasedown

• Upcoming Oil and Gas Events

• Tweet of the Day

Is Venezuela about to Invade Guyana?

You’d think the world has had enough wars this year to last it a decade, but it seems a new conflict is brewing.

Venezuela just voted in a referendum to annex two-thirds of neighboring Guyana essentially.

And it might act on that vote.

A century-old border dispute

Back in the late 19^th century, an arbitration settled Guyana’s borders as they are today.

But Venezuela has never accepted that decision.

It claims that the border between the two is the Essequibo River, which runs through the same region under dispute.

Now, Caracas has decided to act on its claims.

It might – just might – have something to do with the fact that Essequibo contains most of Guyana’s oil.

The Stabroek Block, where Exxon hit oil back in 2015, is in the waters off the coast in that area.

Since 2015, Exxon has tapped more than 11 billion barrels in reserves.

Does Venezuela even need more oil, or is there something else?

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world.

It’s not exactly Guyana’s poor oil-less neighbor.

But there’s probably something else to all this.

The relaxation of sanctions by the U.S. may well have emboldened Maduro.

Enough to motivate a land grab in the neighboring country.

The more important question is what the reaction of the U.S. will be.

Because Venezuela is already amassing troops at the border.

So is Brazil, which shares a border with both.

It could yet get ugly.

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“Absolutely Not,” Says Saudi on Oil, Gas Phasedown

Saudi Arabia is not signing any COP28 pledge for phasing down hydrocarbons, the energy minister of the kingdom has said.

The phasedown—and phaseout—of fossil fuels is one of the main topics of discussion at this year’s climate summit…

Even as demand for them continues to increase.

Hypocrisy and lack of planning

“Absolutely not,” said Abdulaziz bin Salman when asked by Bloomberg if Saudi would sign a commitment to phasing down oil and gas.

Shocking, right?

But he had more to say to those pushing for that commitment.

“I’m not naming names,” he said.

“But those countries who really believe in phasing out and phasing down hydrocarbons, you should come out and put together a plan for how in starting 1st of January 2024.”

Yeah. It’s always the “How” that seems to get ignored in the grand climate plans of “those countries.”

Outrage at COP28

Earlier this week, the president of this year’s Conference of the Parties dropped a bomb.

He said there was no scientific basis in the claim that we had to phase down oil and gas to stop climate change.

Naturally, these words had climate activists see red.

As if they should have expected anything else from one of the biggest oil producers in the world.

Incidentally, the U.S. just set another record for oil production.

And it’s cemented it as the largest producer of this fossil fuel.

But sure, sign a doc saying you’re committed to phasing oil down.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• December 6: Petroleum Alliance Of Oklahoma Wildcatters Wednesday Luncheon, Oklahoma City, OK

• December 6: 15th Annual PAW Wildlife & Reclamation Conference, Casper, WY

• December 6: PIOGA Mix, Mingle & Jingle Holiday Party, Wexford, PA

• December 15: 23rd Annual KOGA Christmas Party, Bodley Bullock House, Lexington, KY

Around the Global Patch

🇨🇦 Canada's oil industry: delays, losses loom.
🇨🇳 Tesla surges: anticipated record-breaking deliveries in China.
🇷🇺 OPEC+ ready for deeper oil cuts.

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