Guyana already seeing increased revenues from global oil price surge – ExxonMobil

…says country could soon be earning larger share of profits

With the surge in oil prices on the global market, Guyana is already earning increased revenues, and according to President of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) Alistair Routledge, these higher market prices coupled with increased production in the Stabroek Block Offshore could see the country receiving a larger share of the profits from oil sales.
Routledge told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the price per oil cargo has gone up from the average of US$70 a few weeks ago to now just over US$100 as a result of the ongoing United States and Israel war with Iran causing massive disruptions to oil supplies around the world.
“Each cargo is a million barrels. So, where it was US$70 million [per cargo] in the past, it is now $100 million. So, already the [Guyana] Government is seeing higher revenues because of the higher price,” the Exxon head stated.
If these prices are sustained, which Routledge says is likely to happen, then the country could be getting a larger share of the oil profits as the costs for its historical investments in the Stabroek Block petroleum operations are fully recovered.
ExxonMobil and its co-venturers, Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), had committed an investment of US$60 billion in the Stabroek Block operations, of which Routledge said approximately US$40 billion has been spent.
Under the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), the Stabroek Block partners can recover costs expended, including those accumulated historically, from up to 75 per cent of the gross revenues earned from the sale of oil produced offshore Guyana. The remaining 25 per cent of profits is shared between the Stabroek Block co-venturers (ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC) and the Guyana Government. In addition to its roughly 12.5 per cent share of profits, the Government also gets an additional two per cent in royalties from the total revenues.

Earlier than anticipated
Routledge told reporters on Thursday that they have managed to bring down the cost bank to approximately US$5 billion, which could be recovered this year rather than in 2027, as was initially anticipated.
“We’ve been generally running down that historical bank of costs at a reasonably steady and predictable pace. We were anticipating sometime next year, in 2027, that we were going to get to the point where we had recovered those historic costs, largely because of just increasing volumes of production that were generating higher and higher revenues to offset the ongoing expenditures plus recover historic costs.”
“What we’re now seeing in this price environment is that it will accelerate. Now, we don’t forecast oil prices, but if you stay at the current oil price, then it will happen this year, based on the level of expenditures and the production that we anticipate. So that’s a significant acceleration. What that then means is that instead of the roughly 14.5 per cent that the Government [or] the country has been receiving by way of revenues into the Natural Resource Fund from the Stabroek production and revenues… that percentage will significantly increase,” the ExxonMobil Guyana Head stated.

Dynamic world
That increase, he explained, is dependent on the oil price, volumes of oil produced and sold, and on how much operation costs are incurred.
“We will move into a much more dynamic world from the point of view of the amount of revenue the country is receiving, but it is in a positive trajectory. So, the contract is going to deliver what it was intended to do – to encourage as much investment as possible in the Stabroek block, which is what we’ve been doing… So, it’s all playing out. In the current price environment with what’s happening in the world, [the cost recovery is] going to happen faster than we had anticipated,” he posited.
On Wednesday, oil prices on the global market continued to soar, with Brent crude briefly hitting as high as US$119 per barrel before settling around US$108-$110 – driven largely by the escalating conflicts in the Middle East, which is the world’s largest oil-producing and exporting region.

Growing demand from the East
However, the ongoing Iran war has seen massive disruptions to oil supply from the Gulf Region, which supplies about 20 per cent of the global oil – nearly 60 per cent of which goes to Asia.
Now, there has been a surge in oil demand from Asian countries, according to the ExxonMobil Guyana President.
“The signal that we’re seeing is there’s a perceived shortage of supply. It’s becoming a real shortage of supply, and hence prices are going up. And what that’s intended to do in any market is say, ‘Okay, let’s try and reduce demand, but also signal if there is any other supply available in the world, then we’d really like to have it.’ And so, I wouldn’t say that we’re specifically being asked to send our individual cargoes anywhere, but our traders are in the market, and they’re addressing where that demand is… It’s very dynamic… What we are seeing is clearly, as… most of the flows from the Gulf went to the east, there is more growing demand from the east – from Asia,” Routledge stated.
Already, ExxonMobil has recorded a strong start to 2026 with production in the prolific Stabroek Block offshore Guyana, peaking in January with 916,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Against this backdrop, Routledge pointed out that in selling Guyana’s oil, the traders will have to ascertain which market they can maximise the value for the country in the face of the rising global demand.
“Our trading organisations based in Houston, in the States… they’re handling that, but what it typically does is there will be a lot of people calling because they’re seeing all prices going up, and they’re all scrambling to secure volumes. So, the traders will be super busy, and then what they’re trying to do is match up ‘Okay, we have these cargos coming available. Who is it spending the highest price when you factor in shipping costs and availability of vessels, which is another factor in all of this…? At the end of the day, you know, that’s the business. We want to maximise the revenue for Guyana,” he asserted.