Venezuela told judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Nov. 17 that they should throw out a case filed by Guyana in a long-running border dispute, which could determine which country has rights to offshore oil and gas fields.

Guyana brought a case in 2018 asking the court to confirm the border was established by an 1899 arbitration process between Venezuela and the then-colony of British Guiana.

“We will demonstrate Guyana’s claim is inadmissible,” Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told the court, which is the U.N.’s highest for resolving disputes between states.

Venezuela had ramped up its claims to a huge, sparsely populated area west of the Essequibo River after oil was discovered offshore.

The Venezuelan government wants to resolve the border dispute in direct talks with Guyana, but the latter insists it has been already regulated with the 1899 settlement.

Offshore