GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Stabroek cost recovery has surpassed US$51 billion of the more than US$55 billion the ExxonMobil-led consortium has spent developing Guyana’s offshore oil block, leaving roughly US$4.5 billion still to be recouped as of the end of 2025.
John Colling, ExxonMobil Guyana’s vice president and business services manager, disclosed the figures during a June 9 briefing with reporters at the company’s Ogle office. He said the outstanding balance could be recovered before the close of 2026, sooner than the consortium had previously projected.
“Recovery of those costs could occur sooner than originally anticipated, and that very well likely could be this year, sometime in the second half,” Colling said. He attributed the faster pace to rising production and higher oil prices, driven in part by conflict in the Middle East.
The Stabroek Block currently produces more than 900,000 barrels of oil per day across four developments, Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, Payara and Yellowtail, as part of a broader pattern of Guyana energy developments this year. The Uaru project, which carries a designed capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, is expected to begin production later this year, pushing total Stabroek output past one million barrels per day.
How the production sharing split affects Stabroek cost recovery
Under Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement, the consortium can recover up to 75 percent of monthly output as cost oil before the remainder is classified as profit oil and divided equally with the government. That structure currently gives Guyana 12.5 percent of total production as profit oil, in addition to a 2 percent royalty on every barrel produced and sold.
ExxonMobil operates the block on behalf of partners Chevron, which completed its acquisition of Hess and the company’s 30 percent Stabroek stake in July 2025, and CNOOC, which holds 25 percent. ExxonMobil retains the largest interest, at 45 percent.
Colling said the cost recovery bank reflects spending across the consortium’s full project portfolio, including developments already in production and those still under construction. “It would be all costs that have been included in the cost bank to date, so spend on all projects online as well as relevant spend on projects which are being developed,” he said.
Once the consortium fully recovers its costs, Guyana’s profit oil share rises sharply, from 12.5 percent to 50 percent, since no further production would be set aside for cost recovery. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has previously said the government expects its share of output to increase once recoverable costs fall below the agreement’s ceiling. Details were first reported by OilNow.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat said in May that the shift would not happen in a single step, since exploration spending under the consortium’s current license is still accumulating. He said the cost recovery bank is “being desaturated” rather than paid off outright, with the exact timeline depending on continuing project costs and oil prices.
Guyana received US$761 million in oil revenue during the first quarter of 2026 alone, funds that flow into the country’s Natural Resource Fund, the sovereign account established to manage proceeds from the sector. A larger profit-oil share would substantially increase that quarterly inflow.
Production climbs as Uaru project nears startup
The Stabroek Block’s output has kept climbing even as the consortium closes in on full cost recovery. Existing vessels, including the ONE GUYANA floating production, storage and offloading unit, have pushed combined output past 900,000 barrels per day, with Uaru’s added capacity expected to come online before the year ends.
Continued investment in new developments could still affect how quickly the consortium reaches full recovery, since fresh project costs are added to the bank as they are incurred. ExxonMobil has advanced plans for additional offshore projects within the block, work that would extend Stabroek production well into the next decade.
Whether the cost recovery threshold is crossed this year or next will determine how quickly Guyana’s treasury begins collecting its larger share of the country’s oil wealth.
