Georgetown (Guyana) (AFP) – Exxon Mobil promises to advance Guyana's gas development alongside this South American country, which seeks to boost the sector with its neighbor Suriname, an executive of the American oil giant said on Tuesday.

First modification: 02/18/2026 - 18:11

With a population of about 800,000, Guyana has the largest oil reserves per capita in the world.

Specialists estimate that the Guyana-Suriname basin contains around 15 billion barrels of oil reserves associated with important gas fields.

"When the government moves forward on permitting approvals and market frameworks, we will move forward engineering, execution and investment in unison. When the government accelerates, we accelerate," said Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Company.

"The pace of gas development is not set by any particular company," the executive added during the Guyana Energy Conference, held in Georgetown.

The vice president of ExxonMobil Corporation also promised that the oil company will accompany its partners in gas development.

"The same alignment that enabled Guyana's oil success – clear roles, shared standards, transparency and disciplined execution – will be even more important for natural gas," he noted.

Ammann stated that ExxonMobil was committed to developing Guyana's gas and maximizing its value and impact to the country through rapid, secure and smart monetization.

Guyana granted an oil production license in September for the Hammerhead offshore project, for which ExxonMobil and its partners will invest $6.8 billion.

"More broadly, we see significant recoverable gas resources...We think the opportunity is compelling," Ammann said of the project.

Hammerhead in the Stabroek block is located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Essequibo and in waters that Caracas says are yet to be delimited.

The Essequibo is the subject of a centuries-old border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. The lawsuit was fueled in 2015 with the discoveries of large oil reserves.

President Irfaan Ali said Guyana was interested in joint gas development in the same area, as part of plans to develop a second gas project in Berbice (east).

Ali indicated that talks between Guyana and Suriname to launch that project were "on track."

The president has previously promised new energy and natural gas works with the aim of turning Guyana into a regional hub for international investments.

© 2026 AFP

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