(Reuters) — An oil-producing consortium in Guyana comprising Exxon Mobil, Hess and CNOOC posted a 64% surge in 2024 profit to $10.4 billion, Exxon said on Tuesday, as facility updates allowed sustained output growth.

Due to fast production expansion and relatively low government royalties and taxes, Guyana has become a profitable operation for the group's members, which control all oil and gas output in the South American country.

Guyana and its neighbors sharing the same basin are expected to become one of the world's last frontiers for oil development.

Exxon in January posted total adjusted earnings of $33.46 billion in 2024, with $4.7 billion coming from Guyana, it said in a report on its operations there.

Hess' profit in Guyana rose to $3.1 billion last year from $1.9 billion in 2023, while CNOOC's profit grew to $2.5 billion profit from $1.5 billion, the companies' individual reports showed.

The consortium's oil output rose 3% year-on-year to 631,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, government figures showed. Output is expected to surpass 900,000 bpd once the companies complete the installation of a fourth production vessel that arrived in the country's waters in February.

A license for a potential rival consortium led by Toronto-listed Frontera Energy was recently terminated by Guyana's government.

As pressure to secure natural gas supplies increases in Guyana, the Exxon group is planning a strategy to quantify reserves and plan development and supply, company executives said earlier this year.

In the fourth quarter, the consortium reached a gross output volume of 652,000 bpd following updates at some of its floating facilities, Exxon reported. Production capacity is expected to reach 1.7 million bpd by 2030.

The group's expenses in Guyana rose 42% to $4.9 billion in 2024, for a profit before taxes of $12.8 billion, Exxon added.

Exxon group's Guyana oil output rose to 668,000 bpd last week.