Today's Signal
CNOOC's US$2.5B Stabroek profit lands beside Guyana's US$2.47B — the asymmetry debate sharpens
Kaieteur News disclosure: CNOOC's 25% Stabroek share yielded roughly US$2.5 billion in 2025 pre-tax net income — essentially equal to Guyana's national share for the same period. Public scrutiny of the revenue-distribution framework is escalating, and a 9th development permit application is now in front of regulators.
Kaieteur News reported on May 24 that CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, the 25% shareholder in the Stabroek Block, recorded GY$503.4 billion in pre-tax net income for 2025 — approximately US$2.5 billion. Guyana’s national share for the same period was approximately US$2.47 billion, despite the country’s entitlement to half of profit-oil revenue.
Earlier reporting placed combined ExxonMobil, Hess, and CNOOC profits between 2020 and 2024 at US$29 billion, against US$5.4 billion flowing into the Natural Resource Fund over the same period.
In separate May 26 reporting, Kaieteur News notes ExxonMobil has filed an application for a 9th development permit in the Stabroek Block — keeping development pace ahead of the public revenue-distribution debate.
For the diaspora layer, the question is not abstract. Many Guyanese-diaspora households are weighing real-estate positioning, business-investment timing, and pension-return planning against an expectation of national wealth transformation. The asymmetry between operator profits and Guyanese national share, if unresolved over the next election cycle, will shape what return-home actually delivers economically over the back half of the decade.
Source: Kaieteur News (May 24, May 26, 2026).