$387.6 Billion from oil revenues in NRF as of July

The Natural Resource Fund (NRF) ended the month of July with a balance of $387.6 billion (US$1.85 billion), as revenues from oil and gas, specifically profit oil and royalties, continue to flow into the fund.
According to the latest details on the fund’s financial position and performance released by the Bank of Guyana, Guyana received $11.3 billion in royalties and $15.3 billion in profit oil in just one month.
This amounts to $26.6 billion in inflows for the month of July, while $1.6 billion in total investment income was recorded. The fund ended July with a balance of $387.6 billion, having started the month with an opening balance of $359.3 billion.
During the second quarter of the year – April to June, Guyana had lifted five 1-million-barrel (approximate) oil cargoes as its share of profit oil. This was an increase compared to the two lifts for the previous quarter.

According to the second quarterly report for 2023, “the country is expected to benefit from ten more lifts as seventeen were projected for 2023. To date, Guyana obtained twenty-nine lifts of profit oil since the inception of the Fund.”
Government’s spending from the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) is overseen by the NRF Fund Board – which consists of five members, as well as the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee (PAOC), which comprises nine members, and the Investment Committee, seven members.
Since passage of the NRF Act in 2021, Government has gone on to establish the Natural Resource Fund Board. Following parliamentary approval, the Government has made several withdrawals from the fund, amounting to tens of billions of dollars, which were transferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance national development priorities.
Section 3 (1) of the NRF Act 2021, Act No 19 of 2021, which was assented to by President Dr Irfaan Ali on December 30, 2021, establishes the NRF to manage the natural resource wealth of Guyana for the present and future benefit of the people in an effective and efficient manner and in accordance with the principles of good governance, transparency, accountability, and international best practices, including the Santiago Principles.
The funds from the NRF have their origins in the Stabroek Block – Guyana’s only block currently producing oil. The Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through its local affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds the remaining 25 per cent interest.
ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027, with possibly 10 FPSOs operational by 2030. The third project – the Payara development – will target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels, and was at one point considered to be the largest single planned investment in the history of Guyana.
Meanwhile, the Yellowtail development, which will be oil giant ExxonMobil’s fourth development in Guyana’s waters, will turn out to be the single largest development so far in terms of barrels per day of oil, with a mammoth 250,000 bpd targeted.
The Uaru oil development, which will be the fifth one for the company offshore Guyana, is targeting between 38 and 63 development wells, including production, water injection, and gas re-injection wells. Exxon had previously also made known that they anticipate first oil from the Uaru development by late 2026 or early 2027. (G3)