A tiny rainforest country is growing into a petrostate. A US oil company could reap the biggest rewards

By Laura Paddison – CNN Climate

Guyana’s destiny changed in 2015. US fossil fuel giant Exxon discovered nearly 11 billion barrels of oil in the deep water off the coast of this tiny, rainforested country.

It was one of the most spectacular oil discoveries of recent decades. By 2019, Exxon and its partners, US oil company Hess and China-headquartered CNOOC, had started producing the fossil fuel. They now pump around 650,000 barrels of oil a day, with plans to more than double this to 1.3 million by 2027.