President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced that Guyana’s oil production is set to reach 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030. This announcement was made during the head-of-state’s special address to Parliament on Thursday last, when he outlined the country’s achievements and future goals for the petroleum sector.
“Between 2020 and 2024, the petroleum management programme in Guyana achieved significant milestones, a remarkable 25 discoveries were made in this period, with 22 of these occurring in a Stabroek Block alone,” the president said.
Oil is currently being produced from the Liza 1, Liza 2, and Payara fields in the Stabroek Block, supported by three floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels: Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity.
The current combined output of the three vessels is 665,000 bpd, with 157,000 bpd from FPSO Destiny and 252,000 bpd each from FPSO Unity and FPSO Prosperity. This achievement comes just five years after the operator of the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL), started pumping oil.
Looking to the future, President Ali highlighted ambitious targets for the sector, projecting that Guyana would exceed 1 million bpd by 2027 and even reach 1.5 million bpd by 2030. He noted that this growth will be supported by 10 production facilities, including the recently defined seventh project. He added, “We have made our thinking very clear and public in relation to the seventh and future projects. There is no second guessing our policy and thinking on these matters.”
Notably, Guyana’s oil production is set to grow with the addition of the fourth and fifth approved projects, Yellowtail and Uaru, each aiming to contribute 250,000 bpd. Yellowtail is scheduled to start in 2025, followed by Uaru in 2026. In addition, earlier this year, Exxon received approval for Whiptail, its sixth project, which will add 250,000 bpd, bringing the country’s overall capacity to over 1.3 million bpd by the end of 2027.
Importantly, each FPSO supporting the projects in the Stabroek Block will undergo debottlenecking exercises, which will enhance their output beyond the nameplate capacity.
