Former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and petroleum engineer Dr. Vincent Adams has criticised the government’s handling of information related to Guyana’s oil reserves, arguing that the administration has turned a matter of national importance into what he described as a “mystery” kept from the public.
Adams was reacting to the government’s response to a query from Kaieteur News about Guyana’s oil reserves. In its response, the government maintained that Guyana’s oil reserves remain estimated at about 11 billion barrels, even though disclosures made by ExxonMobil to its shareholders suggested that the company’s resource estimates in the Stabroek Block have increased.
ExxonMobil stated in its 2025 reporting that additions to proved reserves included about 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent from primarily the United States and Guyana, according to the company’s annual report and investor disclosures.
The Ministry of Natural Resources said the figures reported by ExxonMobil were made under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting rules for investors and should not be interpreted as an official update to Guyana’s national oil reserve estimate.
In a letter to the editor, Adams said he was taken aback by the government’s response to the question posed by the newspaper. “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry upon reading the Govt’s recent response to a Kaieteur News (KN) question concerning Guyana’s oil reserves – a subject the Govt has turned into a mystery, if not their privileged information,” he wrote. “In other words, screw the people of Guyana who owns the oil!”
Adams, a former U.S. Department of Energy petroleum engineer who later served as head of the EPA in Guyana, argued that oil reserves belong to the citizens of the country and that the government is merely a custodian of those resources.
“Those reserves stand for the bank account of all Guyanese, with Govt as custodian mandated to share account information with the rightful owners,” Adams said.
To resolve what he called the “Govt created oil reserves mystery,” Adams urged the administration to release key petroleum sector documents, including ExxonMobil’s quarterly reports, the 51 Notices of Discoveries and the seven Field Development Plans.
The issue was triggered by ExxonMobil’s 2025 Annual Report, which stated that additions to the company’s proved reserves included 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) from “primarily the US and Guyana.” Adams noted that the reference prompted Kaieteur News to ask how much of that increase came from Guyana.
He criticised the government’s explanation of the report, describing the response as confusing and dismissive of the public’s right to know.
“How could anyone, assumed to possess basic comprehension skills, not grasp plain vanilla language specifying that Guyana is one of only two countries ‘quantifying’ the 2.1 bboe,” Adams wrote, arguing that the newspaper’s question was therefore justified.
Adams also outlined what he described as inconsistencies surrounding official statements about Guyana’s reserves. He noted that the government announced 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent in April 2022 following the 30th discovery, but said that 21 additional discoveries have since been made without any revised reserve estimate.
He pointed to statements from several sources suggesting higher figures, including S&P Global Energy, which reportedly estimated Guyana’s reserves at 18.7 billion barrels, and economist and former Finance Minister Asgar Ally, who estimated reserves at 15 billion barrels.
Adams also referenced disclosures from ExxonMobil partners Hess Corporation and CNOOC, noting that CNOOC reported an additional 746 million barrels from one discovery in 2023 that he said should have increased the overall reserve figure.
He further cited comments by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who in October 2024 said that “Exxon may not be telling the truth about Guyana’s oil reserves.”
Adams questioned why the government continues to rely on ExxonMobil’s reserve estimates despite such concerns, and criticised what he described as conflicting public statements from officials regarding discoveries and drilling activity in the Stabroek Block.
“The stark reality is that Exxon has no obligation whatsoever to Guyana… but they do a masterful job satisfying their fiduciary duty to their shareholders,” Adams wrote. “On the other hand, the Govt is not coming close to meeting its only charge of protecting Guyana’s best interest.”
Last year, former Finance Minister Winston Jordan claimed there had been a “blackout” on information regarding the true estimate of Guyana’s oil discoveries. Jordan said the official figure of about 11.6 billion barrels significantly understates the country’s resources, arguing that the actual amount could be “double or triple that,” and suggesting the reserves could sustain production for 40 to 50 years even at current extraction levels.
Adams concluded by urging the government to release the petroleum reports and related documents if it wishes to restore public confidence in its management of the country’s oil resources.
“If the Govt wishes to regain any hint of credibility and seriousness akin to their acclaim of transparency, they must keep Bharrat’s promise to ‘not withhold any information’ by releasing the Quarterly Reports along with the 51 Notice of Discoveries (NODs) and seven Field Development Plans (FDPs),” he wrote.
