Published on November 12, 2026, by energy correspondent Denis Chabrol, the latest announcement confirms ExxonMobil has secured formal Guyanese government approval to greenlight the $12.5 billion Longtail natural gas and condensate development, marking a historic turning point for the South American nation’s fast-expanding petroleum sector. The project, set to be Guyana’s first ever Non-Associated Gas (NAG) initiative, will leverage a purpose-built Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel purpose-engineered to process up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and a maximum of 250,000 barrels of condensate daily, as outlined in an official statement from Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources. Regulators formally signed off on the full Longtail Field Development Plan and issued the corresponding Petroleum Production Licence to clear the path for construction and operation. Over its planned 30-year operational lifespan, the multi-field development spanning nine reservoirs in the resource-rich Stabroek Block is projected to extract a total of 776 million barrels of condensate, a low-viscosity liquid hydrocarbon that separates naturally from high-pressure underground gas reserves. The project will deploy 27 dedicated production wells paired with 18 gas injection wells, with first commercial output targeted before the end of 2030. Operated by ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, the Longtail venture counts Hess Guyana Exploration Limited and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited as joint co-investors, and stands as the eighth major offshore petroleum development launched in Guyana’s territorial waters. Beyond direct hydrocarbon extraction, the Guyanese government has laid out a forward-looking roadmap to channel Longtail’s gas output to drive national industrial expansion: plans include constructing a second offshore Gas-to-Energy pipeline to scale up affordable, reliable domestic power generation, and supply feedstock for new high-growth sectors spanning fertilizer manufacturing, alumina refining, mineral processing, and energy-intensive data centre operations. The project’s design incorporates full gas reinjection functionality alongside built-in onshore gas export infrastructure, with a set of specialized regulatory provisions embedded in its production licence to ensure long-term operational readiness. These mandates require operators to conduct comprehensive ongoing gas utilization and export feasibility studies covering reservoir performance tracking, production forecasting, export timeline mapping, and global market opportunity assessment, alongside mandatory risk and safety management frameworks for cross-border gas shipments, and explicit requirements that all gas export capabilities be integrated into the FPSO’s core base design rather than added as future retrofits. Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, emphasized the project’s dual value for local stakeholders and global energy markets during the FID announcement, noting that Guyana has emerged as one of the world’s highest-potential emerging energy basins, and the Longtail development will unlock shared long-term economic value for the nation while supplying cost-competitive energy to meet rising global demand. ExxonMobil added that full shore-based gas transportation will proceed in line with future follow-up investment decisions, evolving market demand conditions, and the completion of required supporting onshore and offshore infrastructure.