Alva Review-Courier -

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP, posted Sept. 5, 2016) — Sleepy Guyana has long been one of the hemisphere's poorest places, a sparsely populated nation on South America's northern shoulder that relies heavily on exports of sugar, rice and gold.

But these days, there's a surge of excitement about an anticipated windfall from major oil-and-gas deposits found in the deep seabed 120 miles (193 kilometers) off the coast — as well as worries about the disruptions and conflicts it might bring.

Hopes are high that fuel siphoned in a few years' time from more three miles (more than 5 kilometers) below the sea'...