Guyana to earn US$1.6B in profit oil & royalties in 2023 – Singh

…total crude oil exports to increase by 13.6%, reach US$11.3B

Guyana is, in 2023, expected to earn US$1.6 billion in profit oil and royalties combined, buoyed by the startup of ExxonMobil’s third development in the Stabroek block – the Payara development – before the end of the year.
This disclosure was made by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh during his reading of Budget 2023 on Monday. According to the Finance Minister, there will be 136 lifts of profit oil from the Stabroek block in 2023. Of thoses, Guyana will be entitled to 17 lifts of profit oil, the revenue from which will go into the Natural Resources Fund (NRF).

“Within this, Government is projected to have 17 lifts of profit oil from the producing FPSOs, earning an estimated (US$1.4 billion) in profit oil and US$225.2 million in royalties in 2023,” the Minister said.
“As highlighted previously, based on 2022 deposits, an estimated US$1,002.1 million, equivalent to Gy$208.9 billion, can be withdrawn from the NRF and transferred to the Consolidated Fund to support national development priorities this year,” he added.
The increased production of oil would also have an effect on Guyana’s trade, with export earnings estimated to increase by 13.8 percent to U$12.9 billion. Specifically, crude oil exports are expected to increase by 13.6 percent to US$11.3 billion.
“The Current Account is anticipated to register a lower surplus of US$3,507 million, as import payments are projected to increase by 52.8 percent to US$5,536.4 million with Guyana’s third FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel), Prosperity, expected to arrive this year,” he also said.
When it comes to how the oil and gas sector performed last year, Dr. Singh noted that the sector is estimated to have expanded by 124.8 percent in 2022, with a total of 101.4 million barrels of oil produced, compared with 42.7 million in 2021.
“This performance is attributed to the commencement of production on our country’s second floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel – Liza Unity – early last year. In 2022, the Liza Destiny FPSO produced crude oil at an average rate of approximately 128,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 117,000 bpd in 2021; and the Liza Unity FPSO produced at an average rate of about 169,000 bpd, reaching a peak monthly rate of just over 233,000 bpd in December,” he said.
With nine oil discoveries and the startup of the Liza Phase Two, Exxon had a packed year in 2022. And this year will be an even busier year for the oil company when Payara comes on stream. In an end-of-year interview, Exxon Country Manager Alistair Routledge had said that a number of exploration wells will be drilled this year.
“We’re drilling a number of exciting exploration wells, and I look forward to the results of those. We have another major project start-up with the Payara project coming before the end of the year, and of course many other projects and activities that continue to grow,” Routledge had said.
Exxon, through its local affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), is the operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek 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.
The company is currently undertaking four production projects – Liza 1, Liza 2, Payara, and Yellowtail in the oil-rich block. It is estimated that when the Yellowtail development project comes on stream, production would climb to 810,000 bpd by 2027.
The US oil major anticipates at least six Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in operation by 2027, with a seventh likely to be added should results from their Fangtooth-1 well appraisal be positive. (G3)