ASSESSMENTS

What Lies Beneath Guyana's Petroleum Future

Oct 30, 2017 | 09:00 GMT

Guyana is a member of Petrocaribe, an alliance between Venezuela and Caribbean countries. The alliance's third summit was held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2007.

Guyana is a member of Petrocaribe, an alliance between Venezuela and Caribbean countries. Recent discoveries by ExxonMobil show that offshore Guyana is rich in oil and natural gas.

(JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

ExxonMobil will start producing oil from offshore wells in Guyana by 2020. The country's initial oil production is expected to begin at around 120,000 barrels per day.
Guyana's government likely will become dependent on oil revenue over the next decade. But greater oil revenue won't necessarily lead to economic benefits for the entire country.
Neighboring states, such as Venezuela, may gain from rising demand for services in Guyana as new funds flow into the government and private sector.

Until a few years ago, Guyana was known as a sparsely populated economic backwater on South America's Caribbean coastline. Then ExxonMobil announced a series of discoveries at its prospects off the Guyanese coast, revealing the latest find in early October. Now the country is poised to receive a windfall from oil and natural gas production. But as Guyana's government eagerly awaits what it hopes will be an oil-rich future, the country as a whole will reap fewer economic rewards than it might seem....

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