The ExxonMobil-led consortium in Guyana’s Stabroek Block has recovered more than US$51 billion of the over US$55 billion in expenses they incurred to explore and develop the area.
John Colling, ExxonMobil Guyana’s Vice President and Business Services Manager, said approximately US$4.5 billion remained in the consortium’s cost recovery bank at the end of 2025.
“So the end of 2025, there was over US$55 billion in the cost bank, of which US$51 billion had been recovered,” Colling told reporters during a June 9 meeting at the company’s Ogle office.
He said recovery of the remaining balance could occur sooner than previously anticipated. This is due to rising production and higher prices this year due to conflict in the Middle East.
“Recovery of those costs could occur sooner than originally anticipated, and that very well likely could be this year, sometime in the second half,” he said.
Under Guyana’s Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), ExxonMobil Guyana and partners Hess and CNOOC are permitted to recover up to 75% of monthly oil production as cost oil before the remaining production is classified as profit oil and split equally with the government.
The Stabroek Block currently produces more than 900,000 barrels per day from four projects: Liza 1 & 2, Payara and Yellowtail. Production is expected to exceed one million barrels per day later this year when the Uaru project comes online.
Colling said the costs included in the recovery bank reflect spending across the consortium’s portfolio of projects.
“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 explained.
The pace of cost recovery has drawn significant public interest because Guyana’s share of production is expected to increase once recoverable costs fall below the agreement’s 75% cost recovery ceiling.
When the ceiling is fully utilized, 25% of production is classified as profit oil and divided equally between the government and the consortium. Guyana also receives a 2% royalty on all oil produced and sold.
Government officials, including Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, have previously said the country’s share of production is expected to rise as more project costs are recovered.
However, continued investment in new developments could influence the pace of that transition. Exxon has already advanced plans for additional offshore projects in the Stabroek Block.
