Govt. must now say what % oil profits Guyana is receiving as Exxon confirms full investment recovered – Opposition Leader

Aug 09, 2026 News

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By Davina Bagot

(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana (GoG) must inform the nation what percent of oil revenue will now flow into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) now that ExxonMobil has recovered all of its investments in Guyana.

On Friday, Kaieteur News reported that the operator confirmed US$55B in costs have been paid off using Guyana’s oil. In keeping with the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Exxon was allowed to take out 75% of oil produced monthly to cover its expenses. The remaining 25% was shared with Guyana as profits.

Now that the oil companies have recovered its investments, Guyana is now expected to enjoy 50% of the oil produced in the Stabroek Block, after operational expenses are met.

To this end, the Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed has called on the government to inform the nation what percent of oil produced will be allocated to Guyana.

In an invited comment, he told this newspaper, “ExxonMobil’s confirmation that it has recovered its investment in Guyana reinforces what I highlighted weeks ago. I publicly called on the government to come clean about the status of the cost bank and to tell the Guyanese people when these investments would be fully recovered and what this would mean for our share of the country’s oil wealth.”

Mohamed expressed gross disappointment over the fact that Guyanese learned of the desaturation of the cost bank through a foreign company, instead of its elected leaders.

Nevertheless, he stated, “The government must now disclose how much additional revenue Guyana is expected to receive as a result and tell the nation when the accumulated investment was fully recovered.”

Mohamed also stressed that there must be a clear indication of what additional costs will still be paid for using Guyana’s oil.

Moreover, the leader urged the prudent use of the revenue from oil to improve the livelihoods of Guyanese.

“We must guard Guyana against the resource curse, where a country becomes richer on paper while its people remain poor and inequality deepens. Oil wealth must translate into better lives…as ExxonMobil recovers its investment and Guyana receives greater revenues, transparency and accountability become even more important. The Guyanese people must know how much money is coming in and where it is going,” he insisted.

Notably, although ExxonMobil publicly announced the development to its shareholders since 31^st July, 2026, the GoG has not offered any explanation to the Guyanese electorate.

Questions sent to the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat requesting a cost recovery update since 31^st July, 2026 was ignored. Subsequent queries on when the country cleared the cost bank were also unanswered up to press time.

Additionally, although he made public appearances last week, Vice President and Chief Policymaker for the oil and gas sector, Bharrat Jagdeo, has not shared an update on the matter.

During a party press conference on Friday, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP), Saiku Andrews said that government must not allow ExxonMobil to continue adding expenses by approving more projects that would further delay the country from receiving its rightful 50% profits outlined in the 2016 Petroleum Agreement.

Andrews told reporters that the country should be enjoying its full share of profits now that the company has recovered its investments, before his comments were abruptly cut off by what appeared to be a power outage.

The MP said, “It is important that the government ensures that they receive from Exxon the 52% because the historical costs has been paid down.”

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Exxon, Darren Woods told the company’s shareholders that Guyana’s progress as a success story that has set a new standard for the industry, exceeding even the company’s expectations. Exxon said it expected the cost bank to be cleared in another two years. Woods however said, “Delivering on tight schedules, at industry-leading cost – with strong reliability and optimised production – has resulted in recovering our capital and cost nearly two years earlier than anticipated, increasing NPV, and desaturating the cost bank.”

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Exxon, Neil Hansen offered clarity, “…as we mentioned, at this point, we’ve fully recovered the $55B of investment, along with all the operating costs and the way the contractor agreement works is we can recover that investment up to 75%. After that, the remaining production is shared 50/50 between us and the government of Guyana.”

Hansen further noted that the company’s share of oil from the Stabroek Block will decline as a result of the development.

ExxonMobil discovered oil in commercial quantities in Guyana’s Stabroek Block in 2015. The company later began producing oil in December 2019. To date, seven oil projects have been approved while only four are currently producing oil. The remaining three are under development with ExxonMobil eyeing two additional developments- its eighth and ninth projects.

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• Azruddin Mohamed, Cost Recovery, expenses, oil profits

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