Driven by increased production by an ExxonMobil-led consortium operating off of its coast, and strong demand for light sweet crude grades, the South American country of Guyana has gained a larger share of Europe’s oil market this year.
Guyana’s crude exports to Europe in the first semester of 2023 rose to some 215,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 63% of the country’s total exports of 338,254 bpd, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, as reported by Reuters. Exports to Europe accounted for about 50% of last year’s shipments.
Reuters said Guyana’s rising output has allowed the Exxon consortium and the government, which separately markets its share of oil output, to funnel more to European refiners. The data showed that a large portion of the country’s crudes are being traded in Rotterdam, a key European oil hub.
Oil production begins at Exxon’s 3rd Guyana project pushing output to 620,000 bpd
Some of that increased flow to Europe, however, has also come at the expense of U.S. Gulf Coast’s refiners, which have not imported Guyanese crude so far this year, the data showed.
Guyana has experienced a quick transformation within the past decade, going from zero oil production in 2019 to nearly 400,000 b/d in 2023, and that is expected to reach around 600,000 by the end of 2024. S&P Global notes in an August 3 report that this will position Guyana as one of the world’s top oil producing countries in the world and a rare exception in the market where exploration and production is expanding.
Guyana is key contributor to 100-million-barrel liquids production forecast
For the period January to September 2023, ExxonMobil produced over 102 million barrels of crude offshore Guyana. Two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating in the Liza field hit the milestone together – Liza Destiny produced nearly 39 million barrels, at 142,000 barrels per day (bpd), while Liza Unity produced over 63 million barrels, at 233,000 bpd.
