Guyana Oil: Production, Reserves & Role in the Market
Guyana A small South American country of under a million people has become one of the fastest-growing oil producers in history — output on the offshore Stabroek Block went from zero in December 2019 to around 900,000 barrels a day within six years, and is still climbing toward a million.
Key Figures
| Measure | Value | As of / source |
|---|---|---|
| Production, April 2026 | About 903,000 b/d (911,000 b/d average over the first four months of 2026) | OilNOW / ExxonMobil |
| First oil | December 2019, from the Liza Destiny floating production vessel | ExxonMobil |
| Stabroek Block operator | ExxonMobil (45% interest), with Hess/Chevron (30%) and CNOOC (25%) | ExxonMobil |
| Next milestone | Uaru, the fifth Stabroek project, targeted to start before the end of 2026 and expected to push total output past 1 million b/d | ExxonMobil |
| Population | Under 900,000 — giving Guyana among the highest oil output per capita of any country | World Bank |
Rankings and comparisons: world production & consumption · reserves by country · biggest oil companies.
How It Happened So Fast
One block, five projects
- Every barrel of Guyanese oil currently comes from the single offshore Stabroek Block, developed as a sequence of floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) — Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA have already started, each adding roughly 220,000–270,000 b/d of capacity.
- The ONE GUYANA vessel at the Yellowtail field has already exceeded its original 250,000 b/d design capacity, reaching about 270,000 b/d.
- Uaru, the fifth project, is expected online before the end of 2026; a sixth, Whiptail, is expected in 2027 — each adding roughly another 250,000 b/d.
What to watch
- Uaru's startup — the project expected to push national output past 1 million barrels a day.
- A long-running maritime border dispute with Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region, which has periodically raised tension without disrupting production.
- Whether Guyana joins any output-coordination group — so far it has stayed outside both OPEC and OPEC+, drilling at capacity rather than to a quota.
US Trade with Guyana
| Flow | Latest month | Share of US total | vs year ago | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US crude imports from Guyana | 142 kb/d | 2.3% | −28.6% | July 2026 |
EIA monthly trade statistics, thousand barrels a day. Full rankings: US crude imports by country and US fuel exports by country.
Oil Companies Operating in Guyana
| Company | Type | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Chevron | Integrated major | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. |
| ExxonMobil | Integrated major | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. |
| CNOOC Limited | National oil company (state-owned or state-controlled) | State-controlled: CNOOC (BVI) Limited, a state-owned entity, held about 60.5% of CNOOC Limited as of the third quarter of 2025, per the company's quarterly report. |
From the oil company directory: companies with material producing operations here or headquartered here, hand-curated from company filings.
Guyana Oil FAQ
How did Guyana become a major oil producer so quickly?
ExxonMobil discovered the Liza field on the offshore Stabroek Block in 2015, and first oil flowed in December 2019. Because the block holds an unusually large, high-quality resource, ExxonMobil and partners have been able to bring one large FPSO vessel online roughly every one to two years since, each adding well over 200,000 barrels a day of capacity — a pace almost no other new oil province has matched.
Is Guyana a member of OPEC?
No. Guyana has stayed outside both OPEC and OPEC+, so it produces at capacity rather than to a negotiated quota — one reason its output has grown so fast without needing group approval.
Does the United States import oil from Guyana?
Yes. The EIA recorded about 142 thousand barrels a day of US crude imports from Guyana in July 2026, 2.3% of the 6,224 thousand b/d the US imported in total, −28.6% on a year earlier.
Which oil companies operate in Guyana?
The oil company directory lists Chevron, ExxonMobil, CNOOC Limited with producing operations in Guyana. See the directory for who owns each company and which basins it works.