Latest update September 17th, 2026 10:25 AM
Guyana earned US$778M from oil in August
By Davina Bagot
(Kaieteur News) – Guyana has finally begun receiving an increased share of profits from the Stabroek Block as ExxonMobil has recovered its investments in the country. And according to a Bank of Guyana report the profits that flowed into the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) for August is pegged at US$778M using an exchange rate of $208 for one USD.
The revenue for August included profit oil and a signing bonus payment. Further details on the amount of oil sold and information on the company that paid the signing bonus were not made available in that report but is likely to be published in the Bank’s quarterly NRF report. That document is not yet available.
Guyana is positioned to earn massive revenues from the ongoing oil and gas production in the Stabroek Block as the American oil major has recovered its investments in the seven projects approved by the GoG. Currently, four projects are producing about 900,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The company is progressing development activities to bring the additional projects on stream by 2029. Guyana’s production will surpass one million barrels per day before the end of 2026 as the fifth project, Uaru will add approximately 250,000 barrels. The Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for that project has already arrived in Guyana.
Bank of Guyana
Even as the country enjoys increased revenues from the sector, its sudden bounty could be impacted by oil prices. While a sudden change in oil prices is beyond the control of the state, government can take steps to prevent the profits from falling again. If the GoG approves more projects for Exxon without changing the existing arrangements, Guyana’s share of profits could again slide from 39.8% to a meagre 12.5%.
The oil contract and cost recovery
In accordance with the terms of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), Exxon was allowed to take out 75% of the oil produced in Guyana each month until all of the company’s investments were repaid.
The remaining 25% of oil each month was split between Guyana and the contractors, with the country receiving half of the “profit oil” or 12.5%. The country’s profit share has now increased since the cost of all projects approved to date have been repaid; but this does not mean the cost bank is empty as operational, exploration and other expenses still exist. Consequently, the President said 20% of production has been set aside in the new formula for costs.
In the meantime, ExxonMobil is currently pursuing at least two new projects in the Stabroek Block- its eighth and ninth- which will add more expenses to the cost bank. Without implementing new systems like a ring-fencing provision, Guyana’s profit share could again fall to allow the operator to finance these multibillion U.S-dollar projects.
President Irfaan Ali during a press conference last month told this newspaper that the GoG will seek expert advice on the financing of future developments. Kaieteur News specifically asked the Head of State to explain how new projects would be governed, whether Guyana would allow its share of profits to be invested into upcoming developments and if government would then seek a greater share of revenue as an investor.
To this end, he explained, “Now that we are at this new phase in the development of our oil and gas sector, there are ongoing internal discussions and of course we will also seek expert advice on this matter to make a determination on how the next phase of projects will be treated having regard for the state of the global sector and of course the need for investment, the structure of that investment, where that investment is coming from and of course all the other exploration that is going to take place.” In the meantime, stakeholders have been calling on the GoG to ensure the country’s oil profits do not fall and that the country benefits more from any future oil project in the Stabroek Block.
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