After just one year of maiden oil production, Guyana is causing huge oil rich countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America to rethink their approaches to oil exploration and attractiveness to investors.

Currently at 120,000 barrels of oil production per day, all of which is exported, Guyana is set to produce 750,000 barrels of oil per day in 2026. This is the equivalent of a barrel a day for each citizen.

Some analysts predict that Guyana, a previously little known South American Caribbean nation English-speaking nation of about 750,000 people could be producing as much as 1.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2030. Though just 214,000 square kilometres, many large countries are reacting to this new oil province’s ability to successfully compete, not only for oil exploration investors, but in the global oil trade market too.

Venezuela not happy with Guyana’s oil success

Latin American neighbour, Venezuelan seems not to be too happy with the success of Guyana’s oil industry, which is quickly gaining global interest from major oil refineries and nations. Venezuela has, in response, sought to reignite its claim to the mineral and resource-rich, Essequibo county in Guyana.

Lenin H. Balza, an energy economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, speaking at a recent Platts Americas Petroleum and Energy Virtual Conference express the belief that Guyana’s oil production is on a trajectory to eventually surpass Venezuela’s daily oil production. “I believe we can see Guyana producing more than 700,000 b/d by 2025. If Guyana continues this trend, it is going to surpass Venezuela…of course Venezuela has its own problems right now,” S&P Global Platts report quoted Balza as saying.

The Government of Guyana was up in arms last month over confirmed reports and video footage of two Venezuelan military fighter jets recently flying just 1,500 feet over border towns in Guyana in an escalated act of aggression in its ongoing claim to almost two-thirds of its English-speaking neighbour’s territory. Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, had described this latest act of aggression as a clear violation of Guyana’s territorial space as well as International Law and Convention.

Venezuela’s declining oil production

Additionally, there was another incident where Venezuela seized two Guyanese fishing vessels and crew and held them for several days before releasing them amid international condemnation.

Reports indicate that for the first eight months of 2020, Venezuela’s oil output has averaged 542,750 barrels daily, which is 32 per cent lower than 2019 and well below the nearly three million barrels daily reported for 2000.

Venezuela’s ramped aggression against Guyana is clearly related to the rapid expansion of Guyana’s oil and gas industry offshore.