By LCN Business Desk
National income, listed one cargo at a time.
The notice itemises US$1.89 billion of receipts over three months. Twenty-two of the 24 deposits are payments for individual cargoes of crude, and together they are 94 per cent of the total.
What does the notice cover?
Every petroleum receipt paid into the fund in the third quarter, deposit by deposit.
Government Notice No. 03/2026 was published in an Extraordinary Gazette on 12 October 2026, under section 33(2) of the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021. It is dated by the Ministry of Finance and gives the Bank of Guyana as its source. It covers 1 July to 30 September 2026 and lists 24 deposits with the date, the type, a description, and the amount in United States and Guyana dollars.
| Third quarter 2026 | Deposits | US$ |
|---|---|---|
| Profit oil | 22 | 1,775,100,779 |
| Royalty | 1 | 111,203,928 |
| Signature bonus | 1 | 99,985 |
| Total | 24 | 1,886,404,692 |
Source: Government Notice No. 03/2026, Natural Resource Fund: Notification of Receipts.
Profit oil is 94.1 per cent of the quarter. The notice states that receipts are reported on a cash basis and are "subject to change following price reconciliation".
How long after a cargo is lifted does Guyana get paid?
Payment lands about thirty days later, in every one of the 22 cases.
Each profit oil line records the date the cargo was lifted and the date the money was deposited. Across all 22, the interval runs from 29 to 32 days, averaging 30.1. The earliest lifting in the notice was executed on 14 June and paid on 15 July. The latest was lifted on 30 August and paid on 29 September.
| Vessel | Liftings paid in the quarter |
|---|---|
| One Guyana | 7 |
| Liza Unity | 7 |
| Prosperity | 6 |
| Liza Destiny | 2 |
Source: as above.
The individual payments range from US$69,176,555 to US$92,004,671, averaging US$80,686,399. A single cargo is worth roughly what the whole royalty payment is worth.
Why does royalty look like 5.9 per cent here?
Because the quarter contains one royalty payment, and it is for the previous quarter's production.
Royalty in this notice is a single deposit of US$111,203,928 made on 30 July, described as relating to 2026 Q2 production. The notice explains the schedule: royalties "are paid on a quarterly basis, thirty (30) days following the end of each calendar quarter."
So the 5.9 per cent that the arithmetic produces is a cash-basis share of one quarter's deposits, not the royalty share of Guyana's petroleum economics. Measured since the fund began, the Bank of Guyana puts receipts at US$10,518.19 million and royalties at US$1,335.25 million, which is 12.7 per cent, reported in Guyana's Oil Fund Has Taken In US$10.5 Billion Since 2020.
A reader taking the quarterly notice on its own would halve the royalty share. The two figures are not in conflict and they do not measure the same thing.
What is the smallest line in the notice?
A seismic payment of US$99,985, recorded net of bank charges.
On 18 August the fund received a signature bonus described as a "Payment from CGG Services SAS, less bank charges, for 3D seismic multi-client agreement". At US$99,985, it is one part in roughly nineteen thousand of the quarter's receipts, and the only deposit in the notice under a million dollars.
It is also the line the rest of the press took. Kaieteur News reported the notice on 18 October and led on the signature bonus.
What does this mean for the rest of the Caribbean?
That a petroleum fund's quarterly notice is a shipping record before it is a financial one.
The disclosure obligation in section 33(2) produces something unusual for the region: a statutory, itemised list of every payment, naming the vessel each cargo came from and the date it was lifted. A reader can count the cargoes, measure the lag between lifting and payment, and see the spread between the cheapest and dearest cargo in the quarter.
What the notice does not carry is a price, a volume, or a barrel count for any cargo. The amount is given and the barrels are not, so nothing in it allows a reader to derive a realised price per barrel.
Where the money then sits was examined in Guyana's Oil Fund Is US$5.4 Billion. All of It Sits Overnight at the New York Fed, and the audit timetable the IMF asked for in The IMF Asked Guyana for a Budget Target and an Audit Timetable.
The entities
- Natural Resource Fund is the account into which Guyana's petroleum revenues are paid.
- Section 33(2) of the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021 is the provision requiring notification of receipts.
- Government Notice No. 03/2026 is the notice itself, published 12 October 2026.
- Bank of Guyana is given in the notice as the source of the figures.
- Ministry of Finance dated the notice.
- CGG Services SAS made the signature bonus payment for a 3D seismic multi-client agreement.
- One Guyana, Liza Unity, Prosperity and Liza Destiny are the four vessels named in the profit oil lines.
What the title card shows
Every data point on the article's title card, in text.
- US$1,886,404,692. Total receipts, 1 July to 30 September 2026, across 24 deposits. Source: Government Notice No. 03/2026.
- 22. Profit oil liftings paid for in the quarter. Source: as above.
- 94.1 per cent. Profit oil as a share of the quarter's receipts. Source: as above.
- 30. Days, on average, between a cargo being lifted and the money being deposited, across a range of 29 to 32. Source: as above.
- US$99,985. The signature bonus from CGG Services SAS, recorded net of bank charges. Source: as above.
- Quotation: "subject to change following price reconciliation", Government Notice No. 03/2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did the Natural Resource Fund receive in the third quarter of 2026?
US$1,886,404,692 across 24 deposits, between 1 July and 30 September 2026, per Government Notice No. 03/2026.
What made up that total?
Twenty-two profit oil payments totalling US$1,775,100,779, one royalty payment of US$111,203,928, and one signature bonus of US$99,985.
Which vessels did the cargoes come from?
One Guyana and Liza Unity accounted for seven liftings each, Prosperity six, and Liza Destiny two.
How long does payment take after a lifting?
Between 29 and 32 days in every case in the notice, averaging 30.1 days.
Why is the royalty share only 5.9 per cent of the quarter?
Because royalties are paid once a quarter, thirty days after the quarter ends, so this notice carries a single royalty payment and it relates to second-quarter production. Measured since the fund began, the Bank of Guyana puts royalties at US$1,335.25 million of US$10,518.19 million, or 12.7 per cent.
What was the smallest deposit?
US$99,985 from CGG Services SAS on 18 August, for a 3D seismic multi-client agreement, recorded in the notice as net of bank charges.
Can a realised price per barrel be worked out from the notice?
No. The notice gives amounts but no volumes, prices or barrel counts for any cargo.