ANN’S GROVE, Guyana - Guyana is poised to become the fourth-largest offshore oil producer in the world - ahead of Qatar, U.S., Mexico and Norway. Its list of needs is long in the South American country of 791K people.
Many worry lives won’t change when the oil boom generates billions of dollars for the government. But change has been visible via $1.6B in oil revenue to date. The government has begun infrastructure projects - 12 hospitals, seven hotels, scores of schools, two main highways, its first deep-water port and a $1.9B gas-to-energy project that VP Bharrat Jagdeo told The AP that will double Guyana’s energy output and slash high power bills by 50%.
A consortium led by ExxonMobil discovered the first major oil deposits in May 2015 off Guyana's coast. Oil production began in December 2019, with some 380,000 barrels/day expected to soar to 1.2M/day by 2027.
A single oil block is valued at $41B. Numbers are expected to jump to $157B by 2040, said Rystad Energy, a Norwegian-based independent energy consultancy.
Despite the boom, poverty is deepening. The cost-of-living soaring. Sugar, oranges, cooking oil, peppers and plantains have more than doubled in price while salaries have flatlined. (The AP 05/04/23) Takeaways from AP report on Guyana's nascent oil boom | AP News
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