Fresh official data released by the Bank of Guyana has revealed strong performance from the South American nation’s rapidly expanding oil sector in the first three months of 2026, with total revenue from royalties, profit sharing, and signature bonuses reaching $577.6 million. The central bank’s quarterly update on the country’s sovereign Natural Resources Fund (NRF) also confirms that a $400 million disbursement from the fund was carried out on March 11, 2026.
By the close of the first quarter, the NRF, Guyana’s primary sovereign wealth vehicle for managing long-term oil earnings, held a total balance of $3.643 billion. This marks a modest increase from the $3.435 billion recorded at the end of December 2025, according to the fund’s official quarterly report.
Cumulative data stretching back to the start of Guyana’s commercial oil production in 2020 shows that the nation has earned a total of more than $9.28 billion in oil revenue through March 23, 2026. Since the first disbursement from the NRF in May 2022, total outflows from the fund have hit roughly $6.06 billion as of the end of the first quarter 2026.
The report details a dramatic upward trajectory for global Brent crude prices through the first quarter, a shift driven largely by escalating geopolitical instability in the Middle East. At the opening of January, Brent crude traded at $60.85 per barrel, dipping slightly to a quarterly low of $59.96 per barrel in the first weeks of the year. From that point, prices began a steady recovery, stabilizing between $65 and $70 per barrel by the end of February. This early recovery was supported by coordinated global oil supply management and emerging early warning signs of rising political friction in the Middle East.
The most dramatic price surge unfolded in March, as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, amplifying instability across the wider Middle East region. Critical energy infrastructure suffered damage, and shipping disruptions hit the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for global crude oil trade, sparking widespread market fears of major supply shortages.
As conflict intensified, Brent crude pushed past the $100 per barrel threshold after confirmed reports of extensive infrastructure damage and blockages along the strait. A brief period of market optimism around a potential ceasefire pulled prices slightly back to below $100 per barrel, but that optimism quickly faded as hostilities continued. By the end of the quarter, prices resumed their upward climb, closing at a quarterly peak of $118.35 per barrel, matching the report’s final data.