Since 2015, more than 540 million USD (or about 113 billion GYD) has been spent by oil giant ExxonMobil to procure goods and services from Guyanese suppliers. 

ExxonMobil, through its local affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), has been producing oil and gas found offshore Guyana. Production started in December 2019. 

Before that, however, since 2015, the company has been setting up operations and engaging in oil exploration offshore Guyana. 

According to Alistair Routledge, the President of ExxonMobil Guyana, the more than 540 million USD sum has been spent on more than 800 local suppliers. 

The sum spent by the company on local suppliers adds to the funds Guyana has received through royalties and from the sale of its share of the oil produced offshore. 

So far, Guyana currently has about 534 million USD in its oil fund. The oil fund is called the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) and it is kept in the New York Federal Reserve Bank. With the sale of this final oil lift for the year, that fund could increase to over US$600 million.

“I am a firm believer — as it is the position of ExxonMobil — that Guyanese should not only benefit from the revenues that come from oil and gas but should play an active role in the development of the resource as well,” Routledge said while speaking at the Annual Awards and Gala Dinner of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) recently. 

And to date, Routledge said that more than 3,200 Guyanese are supporting ExxonMobil’s operations. Importantly, too, he noted that the entire supply chain for the company’s offshore activities has been relocated to Guyana. 

Other major oil contractors have been moving their operations to Guyana and the ExxonMobil President said that this creates opportunities for the local private sector to position itself to capitalise on emerging business opportunities. 

Just recently, SBM Offshore, a Dutch-based global group of companies selling systems and services to the oil and gas industry, has opened its Corporate Office in Georgetown. This company helped to construct the Liza Destiny, the Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel producing oil offshore Guyana. 

Meanwhile, along with this Corporate office, the East Bank of Demerara shore base facilities, warehouses, and other support facilities have been constructed to help support offshore activity. 

Georgetown may be the capital city and main port of Guyana but the East Bank corridor is becoming increasingly attractive for massive investments, linked to the wider developmental thrust of Guyana.