Guyana’s Oil Tops 1 Billion Barrels
Exxon said on 30 October 2026 that Guyana's Stabroek block has pumped 1 billion barrels in 11 years, as its next oil ship nears startup. The post Guyana’s Oil Tops 1 Billion Barrels appeared first on The Rio Times .
On 30 October 2026, ExxonMobil announced that oil production from the Stabroek block off the coast of Guyana had surpassed 1 billion barrels. The Stabroek block was discovered approximately 11 years prior, and ExxonMobil operates it in partnership with two other entities. For US investors, this milestone is significant as Guyana has become a rapidly growing oil source for American companies, providing profits for millions of households through mutual funds.
ExxonMobil disclosed its third-quarter results on the same day and revealed that it had reached cumulative oil production of 1 billion barrels at both Guyana and Kearl, a Canadian oil sands site. Executives stated that Stabroek's output had individually surpassed the 1 billion barrel mark, nearly a decade after its initial discovery.
The company anticipates that its fifth Stabroek project, Uaru, will commence in the final quarter of 2026. Each project is an offshore floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel that processes and transports oil to tankers. ExxonMobil reported a third-quarter earnings of $15.4 billion, or $3.72 per share, and $17.5 billion excluding one-time items.
Cash from operations amounted to $25.7 billion, with free cash flow totaling $19.1 billion. The company returned $9.4 billion to shareholders in the quarter, including $4.3 billion in dividends and $5.1 billion in share buybacks. ExxonMobil plans to spend $20 billion on share buybacks in 2027, subject to market conditions, and will distribute a fourth-quarter dividend of $1.07 per share to shareholders on record as of Monday, 16 November 2026.
ExxonMobil attributed the fall in upstream earnings from the second quarter to lower oil prices and an accelerated Guyana entitlement effect. Entitlement refers to the company's share of each barrel's sales that it is permitted to retain under its contract with the Guyanese government. The contract dictates that a portion of the revenue goes to the state after covering the company's cost of production.
Exxon did not specify the size of the Guyana entitlement effect in its earnings release, but total upstream production declined to 4.496 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from 4.514 million. Exxon holds a 45% stake in the Stabroek block, with Chevron controlling 30% and the state-owned Chinese firm CNOOC owning 25%. The lower profit share for Exxon also indicates that the Guyanese government now claims a larger portion of each barrel.
The Middle East conflict could impact oil prices in 2027, a risk acknowledged by ExxonMobil executives.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
