Aubrey Norton finally agrees to ring-fence upcoming Exxon projects

May 10, 2026 News

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…says Guyana’s profits should not be re-invested
…company must use its own resources to fund future developments 

By: Davina Bagot

(Kaieteur News) – Instead of receiving just 12.5% of profits, Guyana is already positioned to receive a whopping 50% of revenues generated offshore and leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Aubrey Norton has called for the Government of Guyana (GoG) to act now to ensure the country enjoys full benefits from the petroleum sector.

Norton clearly outlined this position on Friday during a party press conference in response to a question from this newspaper. The former Opposition Leader was asked whether Guyana should ring-fence the two projects being planned by American oil giant, ExxonMobil since the company previously revealed that the cost bank – or all expenses related to the seven approved projects- will be cleared by the end of this year.

During his tenure as Leader of the Opposition, between 2020 and 2025, Norton maintained the need to review each of Exxon’s projects before making a final assertion on ring-fencing.

He has now firmly stated that Guyana’s resources must not be continuously re-invested, further delaying the country from receiving 50% of profits from the Stabroek Block.

In accordance with the 2016 oil deal, Exxon takes 75% of revenue each month to cover expenses. After all costs are cleared, Guyana and the company will split all the revenue equally, after deducting operating costs.

The country could receive 50% of profits from the four projects currently operating offshore, instead, Exxon takes a portion of the revenue to develop other projects.

To this end, Norton explained that the company previously argued that ring-fencing projects could make them “less viable”. He said that if the company believes this then it should provide evidence to that effect.

Beyond that, the leader said Guyana must not be stuck in a cycle of payments but should also ensure a greater share of profits as provided by the contract.

He explained, “I raised what is ExxonMobil’s argument, now that argument should be assessed. When it is assessed, once it proves not to be true and from my engagement with professionals, it isn’t true so we should proceed to ring-fence the others to ensure that Guyana benefits from it and that we don’t keep reinvesting our resources in new projects while ExxonMobil accumulates extensive profits.”

Norton acknowledged that the company has helped the country reap benefits from its resources but there are further fruits to be enjoyed which should be pursued.

He suggested that Exxon use its profits to invest rather than continuing to delay Guyana from receiving its 50% profits. “The resources, the profits from Exxon should be used to invest in the new projects. We gave Exxon the deal and I’m saying we are here meaning the two governments…I accept the argument that at the beginning of this process, there were risks and therefore those risks had to be catered for. Now that the risks are reduced and we have a better idea of what the situation is, action should be taken to ensure that Guyana benefits more and that we do not allow any company, Exxon is just one to use our resources to milk profits. We know that they must get profits, but not to milk us and our people are left poorer.”

By failing to ring-fence the projects, Exxon will continue to use profits that should come to this country to pay for projects that are yet to start producing oil. A ring-fencing provision will ensure the country gets its full 50% profits.

Just two weeks ago, the Publisher of this newspaper, Glenn Lall reiterated calls for the GoG to implement this provision, highlighting that Exxon was no longer investing into the Stabroek Block, but using Guyana’s profits to do so.

Independent institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Chatham House and the World Bank all previously urged Guyana to ring-fence its projects given the benefits for the country.

Chief Policy maker for the oil and gas sector, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo while serving as Opposition Leader highlighted the importance of this mechanism and assured, “We are gonna renegotiate those contracts because that’s not what we had in mind.”

He added, “When we were in the early days, we were coaxing the people (ExxonMobil) to go along. They (Coalition) came into office – three billion barrels of proven reserves and they gave up zero royalties, no taxes, no ring-fencing.”

In addition to the PNC/R and APNU, the Alliance For Change (AFC) also cited its support for ring-fencing on numerous occasions.

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• APNU, Aubrey Norton, Exxon, Guyana Oil, ring-fence

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