as traditional exporters face challenges, foreign analysts say

AS Guyana gears up to become one of the world’s massive oil exporters because of its rapid production, oil and gas analysts have said that the small South American country will soon be going “head-to-head” with its neighbour, Brazil, which is also a major oil exporter.

In a Platts Oil Markets podcast by S&P Global Commodity Insights, three analysts discussed the oil boom in Guyana, the nation’s possible future with fellow oil exporters and the pricing trends and flows for Guyana’s top crude grades.

According to oil analyst, Patrick Harrington: “…As Guyana’s production ramps up, Guyana and Brazilian crude will be really head-to-head competition.”
President, Dr. Irfaan Ali had revealed in July that oil production at the Stabroek Block will reach some 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by the end of 2027 and according to foreign oil analysts, this puts Guyana on the world stage.

Speaking on Guyana’s oil boom and how the discovery has brought much attraction to the small nation that was known for its agriculture and forestry, Harrington said: “All of a sudden, it’s up to 400,000 barrels per day, and the projection is that by 2027, we’re going to be at 1.2 million barrels per day of production. So, it’s really kind of exploded onto the oil scene…”
Harrington said: “And we’re also seeing kind of a shakeup or a reorientation of what we thought of as the crude landscape in Latin America, even though Guyana doesn’t really think of itself as Latin America,” adding that Latin America traditional producers – Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador- are encountering difficulties.

With these traditional giants facing challenges, Harrington posited that Guyana, Argentina and Brazil are set to take the centre stage, as each country is working on increasing its production.

Laura Huchzermeyer, manager of the Americas crude pricing team at Platts, which is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, during the podcast, said if 10 years ago someone had said Guyana would have been in the big league, one might have called it impossible, but now the country has defied the odds and has become one of the world’s largest oil producers.
“It has been fascinating in the recent years to watch as Guyana has really taken off as a prolific oil-producing country,” she underscored, adding that Guyana’s newly-attained status took many by shock.

With all those advancements, Huchzermeyer said positively that development is definitely on Guyana’s horizons.
Starr Spencer, a member of the S&P Global Commodity Insights news team, said that Guyana has numerous remarkable traits, which make it an appealing investment basin.

These include the government welcoming foreign investors and their eagerness to monetise its oil basin in order to give back to the citizens and create other “cottage” industries as well.
“We’ve got two field developments currently producing. A third is going to come on later this year, Payara, and a fourth will follow in I think it’s 2025, Yellowtail. Uaru is the 5th in 2026, and Whiptail, which is sixth, it’s on the drawing board right now,” he said, adding that the development plan is expected to be submitted to the Government of Guyana later this year.