Traversing a Slippery Slope: Guyana's Oil Opportunity
Date issued
Aug 2020
Subject
Institutional Capacity;
Petroleum;
Commodity Export;
Economic Development;
Extractive Industry;
Natural Resource;
Oil Production;
Oil Reserve
JEL code
O54 - Latin America • Caribbean;
O43 - Institutions and Growth;
O10 - Economic Development: General;
Q40 - Energy: General
Country
Guyana
Category
Technical Notes
New oil-producing countries face the daunting challenge of transforming expected revenue windfalls into sustainable and inclusive economic development. Record discoveries and growing hydrocarbon reserves bring high prospects for economic development and social transformation, but success in these areas requires getting several key aspects of resource and institutional development right. In this paper, we focus on the case of Guyana, where oil production began in December 2019. We systematically lay out the context of hydrocarbon exploration and production in the country, examine the fiscal regime and projected revenues, address hurdles to developing a cohesive governance framework for the sector, and offer new policy perspectives on how Guyana can use oil revenues for a more sustainable development agenda.