By News Americas Now Business Editor
News Americas Now, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Weds. Oct. 7, 2026: Guyana’s petroleum sector delivered a record first half of 2026, with crude oil exports surpassing US$15 billion and total export earnings jumping 76.4 percent to US$16.2 billion, according to the Guyana Mid-Year Report.
The surge was driven by a 40 percent increase in export volumes combined with a 28.9 percent rise in crude prices. Daily production nearly doubled, climbing from roughly 639,000 barrels per day to approximately 902,000 barrels per day, as four Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels operated simultaneously in the offshore Stabroek Block.
The One Guyana FPSO, which came online in August 2025, ramped up output through the first half of the year, and a fifth vessel, the Errea Wittu, is expected to begin production by late 2026 – a signal that Guyana’s output growth is far from finished.
The windfall is reshaping the national economy. Real GDP expanded an estimated 33.3 percent in the first half of 2026, and the oil and gas sector alone is projected to grow 24.2 percent for the full year. The non-oil economy also posted solid, if more modest, growth of 10.1 percent, suggesting the boom is beginning to spread beyond the petroleum sector.
Full-year petroleum revenues are now projected at US$6.5 billion, a 136.8 percent increase over initial budget projections – underscoring how quickly Guyana’s oil wealth has outpaced even government forecasts.
For the Guyanese diaspora, the numbers represent more than fiscal headlines. They mark a continued, rapid transformation of a country that only a decade ago had no oil production at all, and they raise the stakes for how that wealth is managed, invested, and shared in the years ahead.
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