By Randy Gopaul
Last week, ExxonMobil’s VP John Colling proudly announced the company had recovered $51 billion from Guyana’s oil through December 2025. That sounds like a success story, until you do the math.
The Bank of Guyana says the Stabroek Block generated only 46 billion, not $51 billion. So where did the extra 68 billion—a $6.7 billion gap from official government figures. This is more than a rounding error, it is a structural failure.
The Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) has rightly flagged this. But the real question is: Why is the Government of Guyana silent? If the Bank of Guyana’s numbers are correct, Exxon has over-recovered by billions—money that should have gone to Guyana’s schools, hospitals, and roads. If Exxon’s numbers are correct, then Guyana’s own central bank has undercounted national wealth by nearly $7 billion. Either scenario is a national scandal.
Worse, the PSA allows cost recovery without independent audit. Guyana’s share, 12.5% profit oil plus 2% royalty is calculated after Exxon declares its costs. With no verified production volumes, no transparent pricing, and no reconciliation with BoG data, how can any citizen trust the checks arriving in Georgetown? Exxon’s partners essentially made five times what Guyana earned in 2025. That is not a partnership, this is extraction. ExxonMobil is taking advantage of the Guyanese people while distracting us with stupid PR stunts and minuscule sponsorship commitments to a desperately under-resourced populace who remain entirely grateful for Exxon’s crumbs.
The compromised President Ali and the hapless Finance Minister Singh must demand a public, third-party forensic audit of all cost recovery claims from 2020–2025. They must also amend the PSA to cap cost recovery at actual, audited expenditures—not a blanket 75% that incentivizes inflated invoices. Of course they won’t. They’re cowards.
Guyana is not a colony. Its oil is not Exxon’s piggy bank. If the government won’t challenge these numbers, it is complicit in fleecing its own people. The only acceptable response is a full accounting—and a refund. We are owed $5 billion, and we should not wait another day.
