Guyana

On May 10, 2015, ExxonMobil drilled three miles beneath the seabed off Guyana's coast and found one of the most significant oil discoveries anywhere on Earth in generations. A decade later, this former sugar colony has become the world's fastest-growing economy, with GDP growth averaging 47% annually from 2022 to 2024 according to the IMF.

Guyana's formation story begins with colonialism's plantation logic. The Dutch established settlements in the seventeenth century; Britain took control in 1814. Sugar plantations imported enslaved Africans, then indentured laborers from India after emancipation in 1838—creating the ethnic diversity that still shapes Guyanese politics. Independence came in 1966, followed by decades of socialist experimentation, authoritarian rule, and economic stagnation that made Guyana one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest nations.

The pre-oil economy was modest: bauxite mining, sugar, rice, gold, and timber generated perhaps $4.3 billion in GDP by 2015. Georgetown's colonial architecture decayed while educated Guyanese emigrated to New York, Toronto, and London. The population barely exceeded 800,000.

Then came Liza. ExxonMobil's offshore block in the Stabroek deepwater area proved to contain not one but multiple giant fields. The Liza-1 floating production vessel delivered first oil in December 2019. Production surged from 120,000 barrels per day in 2020 to approximately 900,000 by end of 2025—an eightfold increase that ranks among the fastest expansions in petroleum history.

The transformation defies normal economic description. Per capita GDP exploded from $6,950 in 2020 to $20,560 in 2023, reaching an estimated $94,260 (purchasing power parity) by 2025. The IMF projects nominal GDP at $26 billion for 2025, up from $4.3 billion a decade earlier, potentially reaching $41 billion by 2030. The economy grew 62.3% in 2022 alone—not a typo, but the result of new production platforms coming online.

ExxonMobil and partners have committed $55 billion to Guyana since 1999. Three floating production vessels—Destiny, Unity, and Prosperity—pump 650,000 barrels daily. The Yellowtail development's One Guyana vessel arrived in 2025, adding 250,000 barrels of capacity and pushing output toward the million-barrel milestone. Guyana earned $6.3 billion from Exxon operations between 2019 and 2024.

The Natural Resources Fund, established to manage oil revenues, held $3.6 billion by September 2025. The government has announced infrastructure investments, social programs, and economic diversification plans. Yet the "resource curse" looms: overdependence on a single commodity, potential elite capture of revenues, and the Venezuela border dispute that has intensified as Guyana's oil wealth becomes more valuable.

By 2026, Guyana will likely approach or exceed one million barrels daily while navigating the governance challenges that have derailed other petrostates. The country that couldn't attract investment for sugar now commands attention from the world's largest energy companies—a transformation so rapid that sustainable institutions struggle to keep pace with the money.