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‘ExxonMobil denies cover-up’ – claims 2025 oil discoveries below viability threshold
…company previously announced non-commercial finds and dry wells
(Kaieteur News) – The three oil discoveries made by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) for the year but kept hushed were not commercial, the US oil major said on Sunday.
EMGL issued a response to Kaieteur News’ lead story published, on November 23, 2025 where it was reported that the company made three additional oil discoveries but made no official announcement in this regard. Similarly, there was no word from the Government of Guyana (GoG) on the finds.
ExxonMobil Guyana President, Alistair Routledge
In the Mid-Year Report recently published by the Ministry of Finance, it was however revealed that three discoveries were made for the year. The document did not specify whether the discoveries made were of commercial quantities. ExxonMobil however explained on Sunday that media reports suggesting that oil discoveries in the Stabroek Block were being concealed are both inaccurate and misleading.
The company said, “We are legally obligated to file a Notice of Discovery with the Ministry of Natural Resources for every hydrocarbon find, regardless of size or commercial viability, and we have fully complied with this requirement.”
It continued, “The three wells referenced in the Ministry of Finance’s Mid-Year Report were disclosed to the government in accordance with these obligations. That is how they ended up in the Report. EMGL publicly announces all significant discoveries – those that materially impact resource estimates or development plans. The three wells mentioned in the report do not meet this threshold, which is why they were not included in our public announcements,” the statement read.
The American oil giant pointed out that so far it has announced more than 30 significant discoveries in the Stabroek Block, while filing 51 Notices of Discovery with the Ministry. As such, the company noted, “This reflects our commitment to transparency and regulatory compliance. We remain committed to operating responsibly and transparently, in full alignment with contractual and regulatory requirements.”
However, ExxonMobil has previously made announcements on non-commercial discoveries as well as dry wells which were drilled. In 2020, the company declared that a non-commercial discovery was made in the nearby Kaieteur Block which it has now walked away from. In keeping with industry practices, petroleum companies usually announce all discoveries, including those of non-commercial quantities. In fact, Westmount Energy, an indirect shareholder in the Canje block also previously revealed that ExxonMobil made a discovery at the Bulletwood-1 well, but it was determined non-commercial in 2021. More recently, ExxonMobil also reported that it spent $55B on dry holes drilled in the Stabroek Block for 2023.
The non-disclosure of the discoveries comes at a time when stakeholders continue to question how Guyana’s oil reserves remain stagnant in the face of additional oil finds by the operator of the block.
Back in September Former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan asserted that the Stabroek Block oil reserves has far more oil than the 11.6 billion barrels announced. The former minister said that even at the current pace of extraction by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), he believes there is enough oil to last another 30 to 40 years. The question of Guyana’s true reserves gained attention in 2024. That August, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that reserves grew by 600 million barrels to 11.6 billion, following eight new discoveries since the last update in April 2022. But Exxon disputed the government’s figure, providing its own lower estimate of below 11 billion barrels. “I believe quite honestly that we are being fooled and we are doing nothing about it, about how much oil has really been discovered,” Jordan said, citing the last eight new discoveries made by the oil company.
He argued that there has been a blackout on information about the true estimate of Guyana’s oil finds. “All those 11.6 billion barrels that they are telling us I believe it is double or triple that. So, we got oil that could last us 40 years or 50 years even at the present extraction,” Jordan noted. Jordan further estimated that at a conservative US$60 per barrel, Guyana stands to earn massive revenues. “That’s huge money coming to a small country in terms of population, 10 years’ time with good investment and all these things, all of us here could be not super rich but we should have a decent standard living,” he added.
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Only thing I can say about this is that every statement that is issued by an oil major should be regarded as a lie until proven true. With that as a rule of thumb one cannot go wrong. Another one is they will never have the interest of the home country at heart