By Darsh Khusial
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. July 12, 2026: On June 21, 2026, Guyana’s Kaieteur News quoted ExxonMobil Guyana’s Vice President and Business Services Manager, John Colling, as saying: “Through the end of 2025, there was over US$55B in the cost bank, of which US$51B had been recovered. As I mentioned in my prior talking points, US$4.5B was yet to be recovered by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited and its co-venturers.”
At first glance, this appears to be welcome news. Once most of the accumulated costs have been recovered, Guyana should begin receiving a larger share of the oil revenues, rather than the paltry 14.5% of total revenues it currently receives.
However, there is a major mystery concerning the actual amount of oil revenue generated through the end of 2025. According to the Bank of Guyana’s (BoG) reports, total oil revenue through the end of 2025 was approximately US$61.3 billion. Under the Stabroek Block Production Sharing Agreement, up to 75% of oil revenue may be allocated to cost recovery.
Therefore, if Exxon and its partners recovered US$51 billion in costs, total oil revenue would have had to be at least: US$51 billion ÷ 75% = US$68 billion. This is at least US$6.7 billion more than the US$61.3 billion indicated by the Bank of Guyana’s reports.
Guyana’s current share amounts to approximately 14.5% of total oil revenue. Applying that percentage to the unexplained US$6.7 billion difference produces approximately US$972 million – almost US$1 billion. To put the matter plainly: has Guyana been shortchanged by almost US$1 billion, even under the meager 14.5% share of revenue it currently receives? The public cannot determine whether the Government of Guyana and the oil companies are using different production volumes, different realized oil prices, different accounting periods or different definitions of revenue. Any of these could contribute to the discrepancies.
The Government must explain these differences clearly and publicly. How does the Government’s cost-recovery balance reconcile with ExxonMobil’s US$51 billion figure? What was the total value of oil produced and sold through the end of 2025? What realized oil prices were used? How were Guyana’s royalty and profit-oil entitlements calculated? If the Government cannot establish the correct amount of oil revenue, how can the public verify that the royalty and profit-oil payments received by Guyana are accurate?