Guyana’s profits move from 12.5% to 39.8% – Pres. Ali

Aug 19, 2026 News

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…as Govt. finally breaks silence on US$55B recovered by Exxon

By Davina Bagot

(Kaieteur News) Close to three weeks after ExxonMobil made a bombshell announcement to its shareholders that the company had recovered all US$55B investment made in Guyana, President Irfaan Ali finally addressed the disclosure on Tuesday during a media conference.

The Head of State in a one-hour press briefing at his office on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown revealed that Guyana’s profit share has climbed significantly from 12.5% to 39.8% as operating costs still remain. “Guyana’s share of Stabroek Block oil has increased from 12.5% to 39.8%. This has occurred as I said because the cost bank has been recovered two years earlier than was originally expected. In terms of barrels, 75% of every hundred barrels produced went to cost recovery,” President Ali explained.

As expenses have been recovered, the head of state noted that the share of oil to repay costs have been reduced from 75% to 20%.

He clarified, “While the US$55B billion expenditure was paid off, the cost bank is not desaturated or entirely depleted. The 20 barrels a day (out of every 100) account for operating and other costs which still form part of the cost bank. That which is left, which is called the profit oil is split evenly between Guyana and the companies.”

Consequently, the president reiterated that Guyana’s profit is currently 39.8 barrels out of every 100, while the remaining 39.8 barrels is split between the three co-venturers.
As such he pointed out that the country’s production sharing formula has not changed and is delivering profits in keeping with the terms of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). Ali highlighted that royalty is paid to the country first, after which the operator deducts up to 75% for cost, with the remaining oil split evenly between Guyana and the contractors.

Several stakeholders over the past few days pressed the administration, particularly the Chief policymaker for the petroleum sector, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat for answers on the development. They questioned the government’s silence on such a major development in the country’s oil industry and called for a national address on what the recovery of costs will mean for Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF) or the oil account.

Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed last week said in a public statement that the country’s earnings from the sector could triple even as he pointed to importance of prudent use of the resources.

The leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party stressed, “Oil wealth cannot simply produce impressive economic statistics, bigger government budgets, massive contracts, and greater wealth for the PPP. It must improve the lives of ordinary Guyanese.”

Furthermore, he said, “The oil is the people’s resource, and the government is merely its custodian. We must be able to trace the transformation from oil wealth to household wealth. If billions are entering the country while ordinary people continue struggling to afford basic necessities, then something is fundamentally wrong with the distribution of our national wealth.”

Mohamed concluded that Guyana’s success must not be measured by how rich the country looks on paper but by how well Guyanese are living.
The almost three-week long silence from government also attracted criticism from the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan and more recently, Chartered Accountant and attorney, Christopher Ram.

Kaieteur News reported that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Exxon, Darren Woods first revealed during the company’s second quarter earnings call on 31st July, 2026 that Guyana has paid off all US$55B associated with development and operating expenses.

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 added, “…as we mentioned, at this point, we’ve fully recovered the $55 billion 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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• cost, ExxonMobil, Irfaan Ali, profits, Silence

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