Guyana likely to receive $32.8B in profit oil from last 2 lifts of 2022

– NRF registers market value of $298B at end of 2022

Out of the six million barrels of oil lifted in the 2022 last quarter from the Stabroek Block, it is expected that Guyana will receive $32.8 billion in profit oil payments early this year from two of those lifts.
According to the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) last quarter report for 2022, there were six lifts of one million barrels of oil each during the period under review. These lifts account for Guyana’s share of profit oil. However, the report notes that Guyana will be paid for two of those lifts in January 2023.
And indeed, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh had announced that Guyana would receive money for the lifts this year. At the time, he was presenting the 2023 budget.

“For the year 2022, the fund received US$1,099.1 million in profit oil, US$510.2 million from Liza Destiny and US$588.9 million from Liza Unity. The profit oil receipts received in 2022 correspond to 11 Government lifts, as the remaining two will be received this month,” the Minister had said.
These lifts occurred in November and December 2022. According to the report, the profit oil payments for these two lifts will total $32.8 billion. It was explained that with the addition of the Liza Destiny floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, more lifts were made, and hence, profit oil payments increased.
The NRF registered a market value of $298 Billion at the end of December 2022, with $119.8 billion in royalties and profit oil being received. Meanwhile, $43.2 billion was transferred from the fund to the Consolidated Fund, during the fourth quarter. Total NRF withdrawals for the year amounted to $126.6 billion, for use in national development projects.
Guyana, with US oil giant ExxonMobil as the operator, began producing oil on December 20, 2019, in the Stabroek Block. Guyana’s oil revenues are being held in the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, where it is earning interest.
The oil-rich Stabroek Block, which is producing the oil, is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through its local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (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.
Last month, the United States-based Hess Corporation announced yet another oil discovery offshore Guyana in the oil-rich Stabroek Block, where there is an estimated 11 billion-plus barrels of oil equivalent (boe) recoverable resource.
The discovery was made at the Fangtooth Southeast-1 (Fangtooth SE-1) well located approximately eight miles southeast of the original Fangtooth-1 discovery. The new discovery also came on the heels of a January 2022 oil find at the Fangtooth-1 well.
Currently, the Liza phase 1 and phase 2 developments in the Stabroek Block are operating at a combined gross production capacity of more than 360,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) using the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, respectively.
The third development in the Stabroek Block – Payara – is on track to come online by the end of 2023 with a gross production capacity of approximately 220,000 bpd. While this may be the gross production capacity, it is expected that the start-up will see a much small number of oil barrels being produced. For instance, when the Liza Phase two started in 2022, it was producing significantly less than its current production.
Meanwhile the Yellowtail – the fourth development – is slated for 2025 with a production capacity of some 250,000 bpd. Both these development projects have been approved by the Guyana Government.
Uaru is the fifth development and is expected to come online at the end of 2026 with a gross production capacity of approximately 250,000 bpd with the first oil anticipated at the end of 2026. The development plan for Uaru was submitted for Government approval in November 2022 and final approval is expected by the end of the first quarter of this year.
ExxonMobil has said it anticipates at least six projects offshore Guyana will be online by 2027. They are meanwhile seeking project approval for their sixth oil development in Guyana’s waters, approaching the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorization for its Whiptail Project.
The move to seek approval for the Whiptail development comes even as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also considering whether to approve the Uaru oil development in the Stabroek Block.