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US$39.5B in oil already pumped from Liza 1&2 but Guyana only received US$5.9B
(Kaieteur News) – Half of the oil in the country’s first two oil projects- Liza One and Liza Two- have already been pumped by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), the operator of the resource-rich Stabroek Block.
Since production activities commenced in 2019, the two projects have produced a combined total of approximately 564,410,000 barrels.
An analysis done by this newspaper, using data on the Ministry of Natural Resources website found that Liza One, with a reserve of 452 million barrels already produced about 277,460,000 barrels.
Similarly, Liza Two’s reserve of 570 million barrels has been depleted already with about 286,950,000 barrels produced up to the end of April, 2026.
Guyana’s third FPSO, Prosperity
At an estimated oil price of just US$70 per barrel, it could be deduced that a whopping US$39.5B in oil has been produced by the oil giant. Because of the lopsided deal the country signed in 2016, Guyana only received profits amounting to US$5,887,294,038 from the two projects, according to the Natural Resource Fund First Quarter (2026) Report.
This means that less than half of the reserves currently remain at the two projects which commenced operation in December 2019 and February 2022, respectively. Those projects, according to the secret Field Development Plans (FDPs) were intended to continue producing for 20 years each. Observers believe that the current pace of production by the oil giant could drain the resources well before the estimated project life. Government previously explained that production will slow to ensure both facilities remain operable for its full 20-years.
Data reviewed by Kaieteur News indicates that Liza One has approximately 174,540,000 barrels remaining. Additionally, only about 283,050,000 barrels remain at the Liza Two project.
Handed scraps
With just US$5,887,294,038 deposited into the Natural Resource Fund or the country’s oil account for the two projects, of the massive US$39.5B pumped, Guyana has no doubt been handed the short end of the stick.
Not only does the Exxon deal hand Guyana a meager 2% royalty and 12.5% of profits but the contract also lacks a key provision that could have helped the nation rake in early benefits from the sector.
The previous administration failed to implement a ring-fencing provision, a blunder the present government once vowed to correct. This provision would have stopped ExxonMobil from using profits generated at one project to fund another. In the absence of ring-fencing Exxon takes the revenue generated- half of which should have already been allocated to Guyana- and pays to develop other projects.
The country could have been receiving its full 50% profits from revenue generated today at the four projects producing oil- Liza One, Liza Two, Payara and Yellowtail. Instead, the company takes 75% of the country’s oil to pay for its upcoming developments, Uaru, Whiptail, Hammerhead, Longtail and Haimara.
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