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Govt. empties nearly all of 2025 earnings from oil fund
(Kaieteur News) – As global oil prices slide and economic uncertainty looms, Guyana’s political leadership has continued a troubling trend, drawing down nearly all oil revenues earned in a single year to finance government spending.
Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, revealed during the 2026 National Budget presentation on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre that the government withdrew a staggering US$2.463 billion from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) in 2025, almost identical to the US$2.4 billion earned from oil revenues during the same period. According to Dr. Singh, the withdrawals were made in accordance with the NRF Act of 2021 and parliamentary approvals. “In keeping with stipulations in the NRF Act 2021 and approvals granted by this Honourable House, US$2.463 billion was withdrawn to finance national development priorities in Budget 2025,” he told the Assembly.
Dr. Singh added, “For the year 2025, the Fund received US$2.1 billion in profit oil, comprising US$400.1 million from Liza Destiny, US$767.7 million from Liza Unity, US$824.4 million from Prosperity, and US$133.6 million from One Guyana.”
In 2025, the country also received royalty payments from the operator of the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, which totaled US$330.7 million. In addition, petroleum revenue receipts for 2025 also included a US$15 million signing bonus from a new Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed on November 11, 2025 with a consortium for the shallow-water Block S4 offshore Guyana.
This means Guyana recorded US$2.4B in oil revenue during the year. Dr. Singh was keen to note, “At the end of 2025, the balance in the NRF, inclusive of interest income and net of withdrawals, stood at US$3.250 billion.” Meanwhile, government will be withdrawing a further US$2.374 billion this year from the fund to support its national development priorities in the 2026 Budget.
Notably, the NRF Act of 2021 sets a ceiling on the withdrawal amount for each year. In 2024, the government of Guyana revised the first schedule of the law which sets out the guidelines for withdrawals from the Fund.
For any fiscal year, it allows 100% withdrawal of the first US$1 billion received in the preceding year, 95% of the next US$1B, 90% of the third US$1B, 85% of the fourth billion, 50% of the fifth billion, and 10% of amounts exceeding US$5 billion.
While concerns were raised regarding raiding of the fund, leaving little or nothing for savings and emergency situations, the government defended the rationale behind the revision. Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo previously explained that spending the revenues now “gives us a greater return than saving at this point in time for inter-generational equity, which will come later.” Jagdeo at the time justified the formula change by talking about the country’s development needs and the potential for higher returns through investment in the short term. “So, we believe that when you look at the sums given the size of the budget, it’s not unreasonable now to utilise a bit more from the NRF,” he said.
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