Finish paying, start full collecting

Mar 27, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – “We were anticipating sometime next year in 2027 that we were going to get to the point where we had recovered those historic cost (sic)…what we are now seeing in this price environment is that will accelerate.” Considering that oil prices are frequently breaking the US$100 a barrel mark, ExxonMobil’s Chief Executive Officer in Guyana, Alistair Routledge spoke to truth. The reality is that Guyana is set to fully payback the entire US$40B that he calls “historic cost.” Currently, that US$40B debt has only a half billion left to repay. It should be a joyful time in Guyana, given that prospect.

So, why isn’t it? Why is Routledge not coming straight out and say that within the matter of a few short months Guyana will be finished paying the past costs, the “historic cost”, and will begin to collect its full and fair 50% share of profits? The 2016 Production Sharing Agreement says that in black and white, so why is it that there is this vagueness over Guyana starting to collect that now due, that rightful half share from its oil profits? What kind of trick is being played, when ExxonMobil’s Routledge circles around that full 50% share, and speaks about ‘some percentage’, but which he is not ready to say how much it is? We expected that, by now, the PPPC Government would be talking of little else, and sharing its excitement about Guyana closing in on receiving its half share of profits from the nation’s oil patrimony. Citizens should have been hearing their leaders stirring up anticipation, and building awareness, that this is going to happen. We look at what that means.

From the time that this country begins to collect its 50% share from the oil profits, that would be the equivalent of four times (12.5% X 4 = 50%) what is being received today. Considering that oil prices are in the US$100 a barrel range and this country’s daily production level is over 900,000 barrels; then even more billions should flow into the Natural Resource Fund. Four times more to be received soon means that the Guyana Government would have much more in the bank, so that all citizens could have a much better life. At the 12.5% level that Guyana has been getting, most citizens have not tasted the richness of their oil. Because no kind of decent money has reached them, they cannot assert honestly that oil has made a difference in their lives. Truth be told, it could be said with some much confidence that the arrival of oil has made their lives harder, since they just cannot see their way when high prices are suffocating them. Constantly rising prices for food, and the general cost of living have hurt Guyanese badly.

So, the combination of higher oil prices (US$100 a barrel), higher daily production (900,000 barrels or more) and a historic cost bank soon to go to zero (currently at approximately US0.05B) makes possible 50% profit share for Guyana and 50% for ExxonMobil. Instead of excitement from leaders, there is a seeming lack of interest, and the silence that goes along with that public posture. This prompts us to ask these questions: What is going on with the full and fair 50% profit for Guyana now hanging impatiently overhead? Why was it necessary for ExxonMobil’s Routledge to beat around the bush with unspecified percentages? What was stopping him from saying clearly and authoritatively that, once oil prices remain high, Guyana will have 50% profit in its hands? And, why is the PPPC Government, usually so vocal on most issues, so distant and uninterested, not going near when 50% profit kicks in for this country?

We do not like the look of this, nor the sound of it. A certain smell is given off, and it is neither healthy nor inspiring. It seems that the groundwork is being laid for Guyana to be skimmed and victimized again. We do not know the shape or manner of what’s being plotted. But 50% profit for Guyana is under attack, already being stripped down, and primed for more manipulations. Guyanese have a choice: continue to sit on their hands, or fight for what is right.

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Alistair Routledge, Editorial, ExxonMobil, Oil prices, PSA

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