HGP Nightly News – Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed is demanding that the government disclose how much more revenue Guyana stands to receive as the ExxonMobil-led consortium approaches full recovery of more than US$55 billion in Stabroek Block expenses.
Mohamed described the development as a turning point for Guyana’s petroleum industry, arguing that citizens should not be left to learn about changes with potentially major implications for national revenue from ExxonMobil instead of their elected government.
Available information indicates that the consortium had recovered more than US$51 billion of over US$55 billion in accumulated expenditure by the end of 2025, leaving approximately US$4.5 billion in its cost-recovery bank. ExxonMobil had projected that the remaining historical expenses could be recovered during 2026, depending on oil prices and production. It has not been independently confirmed that the entire amount has already been recovered.
ExxonMobil’s own reports describe the US$55 billion as the consortium’s investment or commitment across the Stabroek Block’s approved projects. The company reported that Guyana had received more than US$6.2 billion in profit oil and royalties by the end of 2024 without making an upfront investment.
Under the 2016 petroleum agreement, ExxonMobil and its partners are permitted to use up to 75 per cent of monthly petroleum production to recover approved expenses. The remaining oil is classified as profit oil and divided equally between Guyana and the contractors.
When the full 75 per cent ceiling is used, Guyana receives 12.5 per cent of total production as its share of profit oil, in addition to the two per cent royalty. If significantly less production is required for cost recovery, the amount available as profit oil, and consequently Guyana’s share, could rise.
Mohamed called on Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to disclose what percentage of current production is being used for cost recovery, which expenses remain outstanding and how much additional revenue Guyana is projected to receive.
“Tell the Guyanese people the true numbers,” Mohamed said, questioning why the government had not issued a comprehensive public explanation of the approaching milestone.
He claimed that information received from sources within the Ministry of Natural Resources suggested that Guyana could, in some circumstances, receive as much as three times more profit oil than it previously obtained.
That projection has not been independently verified and would depend on oil prices, production, operating expenses and the introduction of costs from new offshore developments.
Full recovery of historical expenditure would also not necessarily bring cost recovery to a permanent end. Continuing operating expenses and investments in new projects can be added to the cost bank, allowing part of future production to continue being used to repay the consortium.
Mohamed said those variables make government disclosure even more important. He questioned what costs remain recoverable, how expenses from new projects will affect Guyana’s share and whether the administration has prepared projections showing the expected movement in national revenue.
The government has previously said audits are being conducted to verify expenses submitted by the Stabroek Block partners. The official Petroleum Management Programme reported that one audit alone examined US$7.2 billion in costs claimed between 2018 and 2020.
Mohamed also questioned how the additional revenue would be managed, noting that billions of United States dollars have already accumulated in the Natural Resource Fund.
He argued that Guyana’s rapid economic growth and increasing petroleum revenues have not produced comparable improvements in household incomes, public services and living standards.
According to Mohamed, many families continue to struggle with rising prices, low wages, unreliable utilities and inadequate infrastructure despite Guyana being repeatedly identified as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
He said the success of the petroleum sector should not be measured only by production levels, gross domestic product or the balance in the Natural Resource Fund.
“The real measurement must be whether ordinary Guyanese can live better,” he argued.
Mohamed also linked the issue to the MV Barima tragedy, contending that a country earning billions of dollars from petroleum should possess stronger emergency-response systems, safer transportation and better-equipped public institutions.
He warned that Guyana must guard against the “resource curse,” in which substantial natural-resource revenues enrich the state and a limited group of beneficiaries without producing broad improvements in citizens’ lives.
The Opposition Leader said any increase in profit oil should be directed towards healthcare, education, wages, infrastructure, emergency preparedness and economic opportunities for Guyanese.
He maintained that the approaching end of the consortium’s historical cost-recovery cycle presents the government with both an opportunity and an obligation to provide greater transparency.
“The question is not only how much oil Guyana produces,” Mohamed said. “The question is how that wealth changes the lives of the Guyanese people.”
