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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