By Kemol King

GEORGETOWN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Guyana exported 225

cargoes of crude oil in 2024, its energy minister said on

Tuesday, as a consortium led by U.S. major Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

continued ramping up production and completed an update at its

facilities.

Latin America's newest oil producer last year became the

region's fifth largest crude exporter after Brazil, Mexico,

Venezuela and Colombia, and was identified as one of the main

contributors to the growth of global oil supplies.

The minister Vickram Bharrat said detailed figures on output

and exports should be released later this week. He also said the

government shipped 28 cargoes in 2024 from its share of the

crude produced by the Exxon group.

According to LSEG data based on tanker movements, Guyana's

oil exports rose 54% to 582,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year.

In 2023, the country exported 136 crude cargoes for an average

of 377,000 bpd, the LSEG data showed.

Shipments last year met demand from European refiners for

easy-to-process sweet crudes to replace some Middle Eastern

grades, according to traders and the LSEG data.

Exxon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Bharrat said an exploration license for Canada-based

Frontera Energy ( FECCF ) and CGX Energy ( CGXEF ) cannot be

extended again after extra time was given for them to appraise

the offshore block. Instead, the companies would have to reapply

for a license.

The companies were expected to be the next consortium to

start output in the country as the government tries to diversify

its oil industry, currently dominated by the Exxon-led group.

The government will focus on production growth this year.

The arrival of Guyana's fourth floating production storage and

offloading (FPSO) facility, expected in the coming months, will

add 250,000 bpd of output capacity. Two more vessels are planned

to be incorporated in the next two years, Bharrat said.

President Irfaan Ali's administration is also working on

legislation this year, including its gas strategy, and on

advancing a gas-to-energy project following the approval of a

$526 million loan by the U.S. Exports and Imports Bank last

week.