President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said government is currently analysing how the next phase of oil and gas projects will be structured, as the sector moves into a new stage of development.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, the president said internal discussions are already underway, with government set to bring in outside expertise before any decision is made.
He told reporters that the determination will have regard for the state of the global oil and gas sector, the need for investment, the structure of that investment, where it is coming from, and the exploration activity still to take place.
“I can’t tell you now, what the final position will be, but that is currently being analysed,” he remarked in response to a question posed by the media.
President Ali’s comments come as Guyana’s profit share from the Stabroek Block has shifted significantly.
The president confirmed Guyana now holds entitlement to 39.8 per cent of crude extracted from the offshore development, up from the 12.5 per cent share received while the company was still recovering its costs.
ExxonMobil is currently pursuing at least two new projects in the Stabroek Block, its eighth and ninth, which will add further expenses to the cost bank.
Without new financing arrangements, Guyana’s profit share could fall back toward the 12.5 per cent mark to allow the operator to recover the multibillion-dollar cost of those projects.
That dynamic is understood to be central to the “next phase” review President Ali referenced.
The review comes against a backdrop of rapid expansion in the sector. Guyana’s fifth production vessel, 𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗔 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗨 FPSO built in Singapore at a cost of US$12.7 billion, arrived offshore this week.
It is expected to deliver first oil in the fourth quarter of 2026, pushing national crude output above one million barrels per day for the first time.
President Ali has also pointed to natural gas development as the next stage of economic impact, indicating the country’s second gas project in Berbice could come online before 2030.
Government has also signalled plans to broaden the sector’s reach into non-oil industries, including bauxite, fertiliser production, data centres and manufacturing, framed as ways to extend the benefit of energy resources beyond crude production.2569