Can newly oil-rich Guyana survive the resource curse – and a dispute with nosey neighbour Venezuela?

We might have a new energy superpower to talk about. Guyana, the former British colony on the northern edge of South America, apparently controls vast amounts of offshore oil and gas. That, at least, is Exxon-Mobil’s view. In May 2015 the American major announced it had discovered huge potential reserves at its Liza-1 well in the Stabroek Block – some 120 nautical miles off the Guyanese coastline. Exxon-Mobil claims 700m barrels of oil might be recoverable and, even despite depressed oil prices, analysts have spoken about the Stabroek Block being worth US$40 billion. With fewer than a million Guyanese citizens, such a windfall could go a long way. If shared evenly it would work out to around US$60,000 each – in a country where per capita income is currently just US$4,170. More…