Strong European demand for Guyana’s crude pushed the oil exports of the South American country soaring by 54% last year, with Europe accounting for the majority of shipments, Reuters reported on Wednesday, quoting shipping data and traders.
Crude oil exports from Guyana averaged about 582,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year, as ExxonMobil and its partners Hess Corp and CNOOC of China continued to boost production from the offshore Stabroek Block, where more than 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels have been discovered to date.
European refiners have been increasingly appreciating Guyana’s crude grades, Liza, Unity Gold, and Payara Gold, which are sweeter and lighter compared to the crude of some other South American exporters such as Mexico or Colombia.
Since the end of 2019, when Guyana exported its first crude oil cargo, the country has become the fifth biggest exporter in Latin America, after Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.
The lighter and sweeter crude from Guyana has boosted its market share in Europe and Guyana’s majority of exports went to Europe last year. A total of 66% of Guyana’s oil was shipped to Europe in 2024, according to the shipping data Reuters has reviewed. That’s up from 62% of Guyana’s oil that headed to Europe in 2023.
The crudes from Guyana have found a favorable market in Europe due to the proximity, quality, and easy access to sellers, an anonymous trader of Latin American crude told Reuters.
Guyana’s crude is set to further boost its market share in Europe and globally in the coming years as output in the country is expected to jump to over 1 million bpd before the end of the decade.
Just five years after starting up production, Exxon has already reached 500 million barrels of oil produced from the Stabroek block, the U.S. supermajor said in November 2024.
Guyana already produces more than 660,000 bpd of crude from the Exxon-operated block. Total production capacity from Stabroek will reach 1.3 million bpd by the end of 2027, Exxon said last year, when it announced the green light to the $12.7 billion Whiptail development, its sixth in Stabroek.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
