
The small South American country of Guyana has reported that its real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 49.7% for the first half of this year, thanks to increased oil and gas revenues.
Local media reported that the oil and gas sector grew by 67.1%, while the rest of the economy grew by 12.6% over the same six months. Oil production was effectively non-existent in Guyana until 2019, when it started ramping up. It averaged 645,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year, meaning that between 2019 and 2023, oil production grew sharply.
This is also not the end of the story. The country’s oil production currently comes exclusively from the Stabroek Block, which is operated by ExxonMobil, the maker of the Mobil Vactra slideway oil range. The consortium, which also includes China’s CNOOC and Hess Corp., has found reserves estimated at 11 billion barrels over 30 discoveries.
Oil production is expected to reach a million bpd by 2027 and increase further to 1.6 million bpd by 2030, with it possibly becoming the number one oil producer in South America.
The country is looking to maximise the benefit it gets from its hydrocarbon resources before the demand for oil and gas peaks, something that has been predicted by some and disputed by others. Should these predictions prove untrue, the country will benefit from its natural resources for longer.
The Government of Guyana gets a cut of any oil production, so its revenues will rise as oil production increases.