Since its opening in 1868, in the midst of British colonization, the National Museum of Guyana has remained in its original state. Perhaps we have even forgotten it. Housed in a dilapidated building in the historic district of Georgetown, the capital, it is so deserted and silent that the arrival of a visitor startles the receptionist. Around her, woodpeckers, two-toed sloths, and even stuffed tapirs are enclosed in old display cases adorned with mahogany wood. A little further on, the maps of the first French and Spanish explorers hang on the wall.
And, in the last room, an unexpected relic: a bottle containing the first black drops of oil extracted 200 kilometers from the coast and exposed under the light of projectors. Above, a video broadcasts, in a Hollywood setting, images of a virgin forest: “Guyana is home to one of the most pristine natural habitats in the world and one of the richest biodiversity”, details the film. Before continuing, to a tremolo of violins: “ But the inhabitants also have natural riches which were until now hidden in the underwater world.. »
And this is how, on May 20, 2015, ExxonMobil changed the destiny of this small country of 800,000 inhabitants, wedged between Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname. As the “front pages” of the newspapers published that day, posted on the walls of the museum, announce: “Significant quantities of oil discovered”, “Exxon stumbles upon oil! »
The reserves are estimated, to date, at 11 billion barrels, or 880 billion dollars (808 billion euros) at the current price of Brent – a third of the crude oil discovered in the world since 2015. The engineers who are starting the exploration, in 1999, almost missed it. After several years of unsuccessful attempts, when each drilling could cost up to $20 million, Shell threw in the towel in 2014 and abandoned ExxonMobil.
The American oil company Hess Oil and the Chinese China National Offshore Oil Corp bought its shares for 30% and 25% respectively each, for a pittance. Alistair Routledge, then president of ExxonMobil Guyana, later said that thirty-five investors had been approached. A sign of the strategic interest of this deposit, the American giant Chevron has revealed its intention to buy Hess at the end of 2023 for $53 billion. A project suspended since ExxonMobil launched arbitration proceedings to have its right of pre-emption recognized over Hess Oil’s share in the prolific Stabroek block, in Guyana.
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