ExxonMobil is framing Guyana’s oil success as a benchmark for speed and scale, with Dan Ammann, President of its Upstream Company, praising the country’s advancement of its seventh offshore project just ten years after the first discovery.
“We continue to set a new standard in Guyana – advancing an impressive seventh project just 10 years after first discovery,” Ammann said in a recent statement announcing the Hammerhead final investment decision. He credited close collaboration with the people and government of Guyana for helping to build a “thriving new oil-and-gas industry” that generates jobs, supplier opportunities, profits, and reinvestment.
The record-setting pace has been marked by a rapid rollout of projects. Liza Phase 1, the first development, started up in 2019 and now produces up to 160,000 barrels of oil per day. Just over two years later, Liza Phase 2 came online, doubling capacity with a target of 250,000 barrels of oil per day.
Momentum continued with Payara, which started producing in late 2023, while Yellowtail – Guyana’s largest project to date – achieved first oil in August 2025. Uaru is expected to follow in 2026 with production also pegged at 250,000 barrels per day.
Whiptail is on track for a late-2027 to early-2028 start-up, while Hammerhead will round out the current lineup in 2029 with a 150,000-barrel-per-day capacity. Longtail is eyed as the next development.
For ExxonMobil, the trajectory marks a transformation that few countries have experienced at such a rapid pace. “This is about more than barrels,” Ammann said. “It’s about building an industry that will last.”
ExxonMobil is the operator of the Stabroek, the massive 6.6 million-acre asset where these developments are located. Hess and CNOOC are partners.
