Exxon Guyana Chief: “It’s Not Our Job” To Build The Nation – As Company Rakes In Record Profits

News Americas, NY, NY, Sat. Sept. 26, 2026: The man running ExxonMobil’s operations in Guyana has a message for Guyanese demanding more from the oil giant: don’t look to us. “It’s not our job,” Alistair Routledge, president of Exxon Guyana Limited, said when asked about calls for the company to do more to raise living standards in the country. “They didn’t vote for us. We are not representatives of the people.”

The comment, reported by The New York Times’ Simon Romero and Rebecca F. Elliott, lands at a politically combustible moment. Guyana – a former British colony of roughly 1 million people – has become the fastest-growing economy on earth since Exxon’s 2015 offshore discovery, and the country now produces nearly 1% of the world’s oil. Much of that oil is flowing to Europe, replacing supply lost to the Russia conflict.

But the boom has been just as transformative for Exxon. Guyana’s rapid production ramp-up helped push the company’s global output to its highest level in more than 40 years last year – contributing an estimated 15% of Exxon’s operating income, according to the Times’ reporting.