Guyana has two potential hydrocarbon basins
-The Guyana Basin which extends offshore the coastal plain
-Takutu Basin, which is much smaller and lies inland, to the south of the country on the border with Brazil.

1916-The first well in Guyana was drilled on the onshore coastal section of the country in the Waini, North West District.

1926- A well drilled at the Bath sugar estate produced gas which was used for domestic purposes.

1950- Offshore exploration commenced

1960-1970-Offshore drilling was undertaken by several companies including Conoco, Comoro, Deminex, Oxoco , Tenneco and Shell.
1975-Shell’s Abary-1 well found several shows.

1980-1990-Mobil, Total, Guyana Exploration and BHP continued the exploration effort.

1982-The Karanambo-1 well in the Takutu Basin was drilled by Home Oil Inc .Tests conducted confirmed that oil of good quality was found .However, the commercial future of the find did not materialize due to the geographical reasons.

1991-1992-Total drilled its Arapaima-1 well but received no returns

1996-The founders of a Canadian-based company, CGX Energy Inc began negotiations with the Government of Guyana to acquire an offshore concession to explore for oil.

2000- In June 2000, Surinamese gunboats forced an oil rig which was hired by CGX, out of the Corentyne River during an exploration exercise at its Eagle-prospect.

2007-The United Nations International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) awarded 33,000 square kilometres to Guyana in its international border dispute with Suriname.
2008-American oil giant ExxonMobil commenced oil exploration offshore Guyana.

2010- Takutu Oil and Gas Inc, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Groundstar Resources Inc, announced that it was drilling for oil in the Takutu Basin in the Rupununi.

2015-ExxonMobil and its subsidiaries announced in May 2015, a significant commercial oil find in the Liza-1 well within the Stabroek Block.

2017-Exxon announced in January of 2017, that it found oil in commercial quantities in the Payara-1 well. Exxon also made another oil find that month at its Liza Deep field.
March-Exxon announced that it also made another significant commercial oil discovery, this time, in the Snoek well, the third within the Stabroek Block.
Later that year, in October, Exxon announced that another commercial oil discovery was made within the Stabroek Block. The discovery was made at the Turbot-1 well.

2018- In January that year, Exxon made another oil discovery in the Stabroek Block; the discovery was made at the Ranger-1 well.
February- Exxon announced the discovery of oil at its Pacora-1 well in the oil rich Stabroek Block.
June- Exxon announced another oil find. The discovery was made at the Longtail well in the Stabroek Block.
August-Exxon made a significant oil discovery at the Hammerhead-1 well in the Strabroek Block.
December-Exxon announced another commercial oil discovery in the Stabroek Block; the discovery was made at the Pluma-1 well.
2019-In February this year, Exxon announced that it discovered oil in commercial quantities in the Tilapia-1 well.
February- Exxon also announced that it found oil in commercial quantities in the Haimara-1 well in the Stabroek Block.
April- The Yellowtail-1 oil discovery was Exxon’s 13th oil discovery.
August-Ireland-based -Tullow Oil announced that it made an oil discovery at the Jethro-1 well in the Orinduik Block.
September-Exxon announced the discovery of oil at its Tripletail-1 well, its 14th in the Stabroek Block.
That month, Tullow also announced its second discovery, this time at the Joe-1 well in the Orindiuk Block, bringing the total number of oil discovered in commercial quantities here, to 16.