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The debate over ring-fencing Guyana’s oil projects is not new, but it is resurfacing as the country prepares for more developments in the Stabroek Block.
ExxonMobil Guyana President Alistair Routledge is urging caution, arguing that ring-fencing every individual project could have made it harder for ExxonMobil and its partners to make some of the strategic investments that Guyana is already benefiting from.
Speaking at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2026 Energy Luncheon on Thursday, Routledge defended the current structure of the Stabroek Block contract, which allows costs and revenues to be considered at the block level rather than treating every development as a completely separate project.
His argument is that the structure gives the consortium greater flexibility to invest in infrastructure and other projects that may support developments that are less commercially attractive on their own.
“If each of the projects had been ring fenced, it would have seriously undermined our ability to make strategic investments,” Routledge said.
He pointed specifically to the shorebase at Wales and the Guyana Technical Training College at Port Mourant.
Routledge said those investments could have been more difficult to justify if every oil development had been required to stand entirely on its own financially.
The Port Mourant facility, which was officially commissioned earlier this year, was built with ExxonMobil support and is intended to strengthen technical training for Guyanese workers. The facility has been described by government as a strategic investment in building the local workforce. ([NCN Guyana][1])
Routledge said the issue is not simply about how much money Guyana ultimately receives from the oil projects, but when those revenues and investments happen.
“If you do exactly the same number of projects as you would have done with or without ring fencing, it doesn't change the gross revenue that the government sees, that the country sees. What it does is just change the timing of those cash flows,” he said.
He argued that the impact could be even greater in Guyana’s deepwater environment, where some oil resources may be more marginal than others.
His position is that putting the ring fence at the block level can encourage the development of resources that might otherwise remain undeveloped.
“There are some resources in this deep water environment that are actually very marginal, and if you ring fence them, they probably would never be developed,” Routledge said.
Under the current structure, he argued, stronger projects can help support the development of less attractive resources, allowing more of the Stabroek Block to be developed.
“I will continue to stand on the fact that the contract is doing what it was designed to do, which is to maximize the recovery of resource in the country and maximize benefits to the people in the country,” Routledge said.
The comments come as Guyana continues to debate how much of the value generated from its oil resources should remain in the country and how the terms of petroleum agreements should evolve as the industry expands.
Routledge also linked the issue to investor confidence.
He said companies need predictability when committing billions of dollars to long-term projects and warned that repeatedly revisiting agreements could affect investment decisions.
“If we suddenly start revisiting what we believe we've agreed, there are lots of examples around the world…that when you start to revisit contracts, then investment dries up,” he said.
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