Growing oil producer Guyana's Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) retained power in the 1 September presidential and parliamentary elections, promising to rapidly expand hydrocarbons output.
The PPP of president Irfaan Ali that took office in 2020 will have another five-year term after winning in eight of the South American country's 10 electoral districts, according to the elections commission.
The PPP had campaigned on its management of billowing oil production from a consortium led by ExxonMobil.
"We have delivered," Ali said. "We are ready to take the country forward. What we have achieved over the last five years is truly remarkable."
The ExxonMobil consortium that includes Chevron and Chinese state-owned Cnooc unit Nexen has lifted Guyana's crude output from 1,200 b/d in the first year of production in 2019 to the current 650,000 b/d. It is forecasting an average 674,000 b/d by year-end.
The commissioning of a fourth project in September will lift crude production capacity to 940,000 b/d.
The returned government and ExxonMobil have forecast a doubling of crude production by 2027 from future projects on the deepwater Stabroek block that has an estimated 11bn bl of reserves.
The re-elected administration will also be pressing ahead with a $2bn gas-to-energy project for which ExxonMobil has completed a 200km pipeline to take gas from an offshore field.
The gas will feed a 300MW combined-cycle power plant and a natural gas liquids (NGL) facility being developed by US firm Lindsayca, and for which the government said it planned to add another 300MW, to ease Guyana's strained grid and provide power for projected economic growth.
The government also plans to conclude pending production-sharing contracts with companies including ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies "that will accelerate production," it said.
But the plans to increase offshore crude production are under the shadow of a claim by neighbouring Venezuela to the resource-rich Essequibo province that makes up two-thirds of Guyana.
The Hague-based International Court of Justice is expected to deliver a binding judgment by mid-2026 on the ownership of the province offshore of which lies the Stabroek block.
Guyana's plans for the development of its power sector include joint projects with neighbors Brazil and Suriname to integrate their grids and to advance hydropower projects, according to the government.
The returned government also plans to reissue a call for proposals to build and operate a 165MW hydro power plant at Amaila Falls in Guyana's interior.
