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November 20, 2025
China is preparing to receive its first shipment of Guyana’s Golden Arrowhead crude, a development that signals growing Asian interest in the country’s expanding suite of offshore oil grades.
The milestone underscores the global market’s increasing appetite for Guyana’s production.
According to OilNOW’s reporting, the Sophia very large crude carrier (VLCC) has loaded a combined shipment of Guyanese crude and is currently making the long voyage across the Pacific.
Citing data from oil analytics firm OilX, the outlet said the tanker lifted more than 705,000 barrels from the Liza field around October 21, followed by nearly 600,000 barrels of Golden Arrowhead crude from the Yellowtail field on November 4.
The vessel is expected to arrive in December at a port in Huizhou, located in China’s Guangdong province.
This marks the first time China will receive the newly introduced Golden Arrowhead grade, which ExxonMobil began producing in August. OilNow noted that China’s previous import of Guyanese crude — a large shipment of Liza and Unity Gold grades — is being transported on the Yuan Peng Yang VLCC and is expected to offload in Ningbo later this month.
While Guyana’s crude typically flows to Europe, with destinations such as Panama and the Netherlands showing strong, consistent liftings, the shipment to Huizhou suggests that Chinese refiners may now be positioning themselves to test and potentially integrate the new grade into their refining systems. Because the voyage from Guyana to China is among the longest for crude transport, Chinese buyers tend to opt for larger volumes when they do engage.
OilNow also highlighted that production in the Stabroek Block — operated by ExxonMobil in partnership with Hess (now acquired by Chevron) and CNOOC — has climbed to around 900,000 barrels per day, supported by four active projects: Liza 1, Liza 2, Payara and Yellowtail. This rising output has widened the variety of grades Guyana can place on the global market, with Golden Arrowhead emerging as the newest addition.
As Guyana’s offshore sector scales, the first shipment of Golden Arrowhead to China marks a significant step in broadening the country’s reach into Asia’s refining hubs — a shift that could influence future trading patterns as production continues to grow.
