Hess proud carbon credit deal helping to protect Guyana’s forests – CEO

The US$750 million carbon credit deal signed between the Government of Guyana and Hess Corporation back in 2022 is a source of pride for the oil company, with its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess, reaffirming that the company is committed to helping to protect Guyana’s forests.
As one of the ways that Hess Corporation is facilitating targeted investments in Guyana, Hess participated in the signing of the five-year extension of the National Health Care Initiative agreement with Mount Sinai on Tuesday.
Another way is the ground-breaking carbon credits deal Hess Corporation signed in 2022 with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government. At the time, Guyana made history by signing with Hess Corporation a multi-year agreement worth US$750 million to facilitate the sale of $2.5 million in carbon credits to that corporation annually.

“We’re honoured to be investing in Guyana’s vision for sustainable development. Through our multi-year carbon credits agreement with the Government of Guyana – which we announced in December 2022 – we are helping to protect the country’s vast forests, which are among the world’s largest carbon sink, and providing capital to help improve the lives of Guyanese citizens through investments made by the Government as part of its low carbon development strategy,” Hess has said.
The first payment of US$150 million was received in 2023, from which US$22.5 million was disbursed to over 242 Amerindian (Indigenous), hinterland, rural and riverine communities and villages. Government has since increased, from 15 per cent to 26.5 per cent, the percentage it provides to the Amerindian communities.
The funds are disbursed through a village council system, wherein the funds for each village are deposited into a special bank account owned by that village, and the Community Council oversees how the funds are spent. Spending is done in accordance with a sustainable development plan established through local consultations.
The funds are spent based on collective decisions made by the village, with a Financial Oversight Committee ensuring proper usage of the funds.

Oil and gas
Hess has also spoken of the role the company plays as ExxonMobil’s oil and gas partner in the Stabroek Block, which is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). Exxon, through its local subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), 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.
“Our company is honoured to be investing in Guyana and to be helping to build its oil and gas industry. Guyana has made incredible, tremendous progress since our first oil discovery in 2015, and is well on its way (to) becoming one of the biggest crude oil producers in the world,” Hess has said. “Developing this country’s oil and gas resources is important to Guyana, our company, and important to meet the world’s growing energy needs.”
Six floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSOs) vessels are expected to be operating offshore Guyana by 2027. The fourth FPSO, dubbed the ‘One Guyana’ FPSO, is currently being built by SBM, which had in 2022 been contracted by Exxon to construct, install, and then lease and operate the vessel. When completed, this vessel would operate in the Yellowtail development. It is expected to begin producing oil in the second half of this year, when production is expected to reach 250,000 barrels of oil per day.
The fifth FPSO, which would be named ‘Errea Wittu’, meaning “abundance” in the Warrau Indigenous language, would meanwhile operate in the Urau project. It would have an oil storage capacity of two million barrels, an oil production design rate of 250,000 barrels per day, and be able to offload approximately one million barrels onto a tanker in approximately 24 hours.