Guyana's Stabroek Block Crosses One Billion Barrels

ExxonMobil says cumulative output offshore Guyana has passed 1 billion barrels, swelling a sovereign fund that has now taken in US$9.7 billion as Brent trades above US$100.

ExxonMobil said this week that the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana has produced its one billionth barrel of oil, a milestone reached less than seven years after first oil flowed from the Liza field in December 2019. The company, which operates the block, described the achievement as confirmation that one of the fastest offshore developments in modern history has matured into a high-volume producer. For a country that pumped almost no crude before the decade began, the figure marks a passage from frontier discovery to established supplier, and it lands at a moment when Brent prices are climbing and Guyana's share of the revenue is swelling.

The milestone rests on four floating production, storage and offloading vessels working the block. According to ExxonMobil and a report in Offshore Magazine, the Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA units together carry installed capacity of more than 900,000 barrels per day. World Oil reported on September 3, 2026 that actual output has climbed above 900,000 barrels per day, up from roughly 80,000 barrels per day in 2020. ExxonMobil holds a 45% operating stake in the venture. Hess, now part of Chevron following its acquisition, holds 30%, and China's CNOOC holds 25%, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

A sovereign fund filling fast

The production has translated into a widening stream of government money. Guyana's crude is sold through periodic cargoes known as lifts, and the proceeds flow into the Natural Resource Fund, the country's sovereign wealth account. Brazil Energy Insight, citing fund data, reported that US$1.996 billion was deposited into the fund between January and June of 2026. Profit oil accounted for US$1.779 billion of that, close to 90% of the total, with royalties adding US$218.4 million. OilNOW has reported that the fund has received US$9.7 billion since deposits began in 2020. The fund crossed US$4 billion for the first time earlier in 2026, and the government is authorized to withdraw up to US$2.37 billion to support the 2026 budget, with plans to raise annual withdrawals toward US$4.3 billion by 2029.

The pace of deposits reflects both higher volumes and firmer prices. OilNOW reported that Guyana earned about US$11 million a day from oil in July. Brent crude, the benchmark against which Guyana's grades are priced, has risen sharply through the autumn. Fortune reported that Brent traded at US$108.33 per barrel on the morning of October 8, 2026, up US$3.59 from the previous day, as concern over supply tied to conflict involving Iran rippled through the market. That is well above the roughly US$92 to US$93 range at which Brent changed hands in late August, and every dollar of gain lifts the value of the cargoes Guyana still has to sell this year.

Yellowtail ramps as the drilling queue builds

The newest of the four producers, the ONE GUYANA vessel serving the Yellowtail development, is still building toward full stride. Ocean Energy Resources reported on September 22, 2026 that the unit was producing about 270,000 barrels per day as of July, already above its 250,000 barrel per day design capacity, and that ExxonMobil is studying an optimization that could lift output toward 290,000 barrels per day. A further ramp-up is expected before the end of 2026. Yellowtail and the connected Redtail field are expected to yield roughly 925 million barrels through as many as 67 wells, making the project one of the largest single contributors to the block's future output.

Behind the producing fleet sits a long line of approved and proposed work. ExxonMobil and Offshore Magazine list the Uaru project, a fifth vessel, as due to start up by the end of 2026, followed by Whiptail in 2027 and Hammerhead in 2029, with as many as eight developments running on the block by 2030 against an estimated resource base of nearly 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Separately, the company is seeking to extend its search for more. The Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, citing Reuters, reported that ExxonMobil's local affiliate has applied to Guyana's Environmental Protection Agency for authorization to drill a new 35-well exploration campaign in the Stabroek Block, with work penciled in for 2028 through 2033. The application remains under environmental review, and any drilling depends on the agency's assessment and approval.

For Guyana, the combination of a billion barrels behind it and a drilling queue ahead frames the central question of the next several years, which is how fast to pull the resource up and how carefully to manage the money it generates. Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat has pointed to output approaching 1.7 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, a target World Oil reported on September 3, 2026. With Brent above US$100 and the fund filling, the near-term arithmetic favors Guyana. The longer test, as the Environmental Protection Agency weighs the next drilling campaign, will be whether the country can keep the barrels and the balances growing without outrunning its own capacity to oversee them.