By Kemol King
GEORGETOWN, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Guyana's economy is set to grow 16.2% in 2026, slowing from 19.3% in 2025, with the oil and gas sector continuing to drive expansion, Finance Minister Ashni Singh said on Monday.
Singh, presenting the nation's annual budget, said the oil sector is set to grow 17.9% this year, compared with 21% in 2025 and 57.7% in 2024, and is likely to produce an average of 840,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The minister forecast 309 crude oil cargo exports, up from 260 last
year, and estimated oil revenue of about $2.79 billion. A cargo of crude oil contains approximately one million barrels.
The oil sector is likely to remain central to economic growth in 2026, with production from a fifth offshore project slated to begin later in the year.
ExxonMobil raised its oil production capacity in Guyana to more than 900,000 bpd last year, and a new project set to be developed this year will further raise production to up to 1.15 million bpd.
The government is widely expected to maintain an infrastructure-heavy budget stance, deploying oil revenue to support its goals of building 40,000 homes over five years and expanding road networks.
In 2025, the economy recorded double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive year, even though growth in oil production and exports slowed compared to previous years. The non-oil sector grew 14.3%, driven mainly by agriculture, mining, construction and the services industry, Singh said.
"Our overall real economic growth continues to be supported by strong expansion in oil and gas activity, as well as sustained growth across the non-oil sectors of the economy," he said.
Crude output throughout 2025 totaled 261.1 million barrels, up from 225.4 million in 2024, as a consortium led by ExxonMobil started operations on a fourth oil project in August. All of Guyana's oil production is controlled by the ExxonMobil-led group.
Guyana is Latin America's newest oil producer and in recent years has become the region's fifth-largest crude exporter after Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia.
(Reporting by Kemol King; Writing by Natalia Siniawski and Iñigo Alexander; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle, Daina Beth Solomon and Christopher Cushing)
