Guyana today approved ExxonMobil’s US$12.5 billion Longtail development, the country’s first offshore project to target natural gas in reservoirs where it is found independently of crude oil.
ExxonMobil said it had made a final investment decision and expects production to begin in 2030. A pipeline to bring the gas ashore would depend on further investment decisions, market demand and the necessary infrastructure.
The announcement today underlines the alignment between the government and ExxonMobil on extraction of oil and gas reserves despite public concerns that Guyana has been disadvantaged in this deal and that it should be renegotiated.
The Ministry of Natural Resources separately said it had approved the field development plan and issued a petroleum production licence for Longtail, the eighth development in the Stabroek Block. The licence requires a study of how the gas could be used and exported, including when exports could begin and where the gas could be sold. It also requires the production vessel to be designed with gas export facilities and calls for risk and safety management systems for exports.
The ministry said the licence carries forward measures from earlier licences to improve reservoir management, strengthen production monitoring and promote operational efficiency.
The ministry linked Longtail to President Irfaan Ali’s plans for a natural gas industrial site in Berbice, served by a second offshore Gas-to-Energy pipeline. It said the proposed site could use gas for electricity generation, fertiliser production, alumina and other mineral processing, and data centres. The ministry and ExxonMobil gave no date for a pipeline decision or estimate of how much gas could be delivered to Berbice.
Longtail will target nine reservoirs in the southeastern portion of the Stabroek Block. The ministry said the development would have 27 production wells and 18 gas injection wells. A new floating production, storage and offloading vessel, or FPSO, will be able to process about 1.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day and produce up to 250,000 barrels of condensate per day. Condensate is a light hydrocarbon liquid recovered from the gas stream.
The ministry expects Longtail to produce about 776 million barrels of condensate over 30 years, with first production before the end of 2030. The vessel will be equipped to reinject gas into the reservoirs and to export it. The study required under the licence will examine reservoir performance and production forecasts alongside possible export schedules and markets.
“Longtail represents the next phase in realizing the full potential of its resources,” ExxonMobil Upstream Company President Dan Ammann said of Guyana’s offshore development.
ExxonMobil Guyana Limited will operate the project and holds a 45 per cent interest in the block. Hess Guyana Exploration holds 30 per cent and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana holds 25 per cent.
Stabroek News reported in March 2025 that the Environmental Protection Agency had required an environmental impact assessment for Longtail after ExxonMobil applied for approval. Ten public scoping meetings were scheduled, and residents were invited to submit questions and raise issues for the assessment.
ExxonMobil said today that its four producing projects in the Stabroek Block were yielding about 900,000 barrels of oil per day. It expects output to exceed one million barrels per day when Uaru, the fifth project, starts production in the fourth quarter.
It was in August that Uaru’s production vessel, the Errea Wittu arrived in Guyana. ExxonMobil said construction was progressing on Whiptail and Hammerhead, with start-up expected in 2027 and 2029 respectively.
ExxonMobil said about 6,000 Guyanese currently support operations across the Stabroek Block and that the company and its contractors have spent more than US$3.9 billion with Guyanese suppliers since 2015. The company gave no Longtail-specific estimate for jobs or spending with local suppliers.
Discussion