While ExxonMobil’s GY$1.8 trillion Yellowtail project is poised to generate significant revenue flows for Guyana, previously sanctioned projects have already pumped billions of dollars into the local economy while enhancing the country’s upstream petroleum industry.
According to the Yellowtail Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), previous Stabroek Block development projects have to date brought more than GY$87.2 billion (US$436 million) in direct revenue to Guyana. This is more than the 2019 export earnings for Guyana’s sugar (US$24.1M), rice (US$243M), bauxite (US$73.3M), and timber (US$27.7M) industries combined.
ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), which produced the EIA for the EPA, said these petroleum operations have created opportunities for more than 2,600 Guyanese who currently support project activities onshore and offshore, and for more than 800 local companies who have received more than GY$77.6 billion (US$388 million) from spending on these projects up to 2021. ExxonMobil said the Yellowtail Project would only to add to these opportunities.
As a result of this level of investment, EEPGL said the project will generate benefits for the citizens of Guyana in several ways, including through revenue sharing with the Government of Guyana, as detailed in the Petroleum Agreement between the Government of Guyana and EEPGL which was made available to the public in December 2017.
ExxonMobil was keen to note that it is using the most appropriate industry-proven technologies in developing the Yellowtail Project, in terms of well drilling, drilling fluids, equipment selection, development concepts, and environmental management.
The Yellowtail Project is expected to come on stream by 2025-2026 and will produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day at peak.
Public sessions on the Yellowtail EIA will get underway from today in Guyana.