Guyana Oil Production

The Stabroek block

Almost all of Guyana's oil comes from the 26,800 km² Stabroek block, about 190 km offshore. ExxonMobil made the first discovery, Liza, in 2015 and has since announced more than 30 finds. The block is owned by three partners:

• ExxonMobil (operator): 45%
• Chevron: 30%, acquired with Hess Corporation, a deal Chevron completed on 18 July 2025
• CNOOC (China): 25%

Development uses one large FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading vessel) per project. Each new vessel adds 220,000–250,000 b/d, so Guyana's output rises in large steps rather than steadily.

Production growth

Liza Destiny produced first oil on 20 December 2019. Output passed 600,000 b/d after Prosperity started in late 2023, and the ONE GUYANA vessel lifted it to around 900,000 b/d after it reached capacity in November 2025. Monthly output peaked at 918,000 b/d in February 2026, then eased to about 869,000 b/d in June 2026, mainly because of lower output at the Liza fields. The Uaru project, which ExxonMobil values at $12.7 billion with more than 800 million barrels of recoverable oil, should take national capacity above 1 million b/d once it starts.

Per person, Guyana (population about 800,000) is now one of the largest oil producers in the world. That growth matters for prices: together with the United States, Brazil and Canada, Guyana supplied much of the non-OPEC growth that let OPEC+ return barrels to the market from 2025. See what moves oil prices for how supply growth feeds into the Brent price.

Crude grades and buyers

Guyana sells three main grades named by the government: Liza, Unity Gold and Payara Gold. They are light-to-medium, low-sulphur crudes priced against Brent and well suited to European refineries (see sweet vs sour crude). The main buyers in 2026 were the United States, the Netherlands, Italy and Panama; EIA data shows US imports of Guyanese crude averaged 261,000 b/d in April 2026.

Guyana's cargoes do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea. When the 2026 Iran war cut Gulf exports, Atlantic Basin grades such as Guyana's and Brazil's were in high demand. Crude export earnings reached about US$15 billion in the first half of 2026, according to government figures reported by the Rio Times.

Who earns what: the production sharing agreement

The 2016 Stabroek production sharing agreement gives Guyana a 2% royalty. Up to 75% of production each month can go to recovering costs, and the remaining "profit oil" is split 50/50 between the government and the partners. President Irfaan Ali said in August 2026 that Guyana receives about 39.8% of gross barrels. Licences awarded after 2022 carry a 10% royalty plus corporate tax, but these terms do not apply to Stabroek.

Oil revenue flows into the Natural Resource Fund, held at the Bank of Guyana. It held about US$4.9 billion on 31 August 2026, after transfers to the national budget.

The Venezuela border dispute

Venezuela claims the Essequibo region, about two-thirds of Guyana's territory, and parts of the sea where Stabroek lies. The International Court of Justice ordered Venezuela in December 2023 not to change the status quo, and it held hearings on the merits of Guyana v. Venezuela from 4 to 11 May 2026. A judgment date had not been set as of October 2026. In March 2025 a Venezuelan navy patrol vessel approached FPSOs in the block. Read more on Venezuela's oil sector.