Guatemala’s oil is mainly located in the north of the country. Its national oil registry consists of 11 oil exploitation and exploration contracts covering 24 different protected areas. Since 2013, the cost-benefit ratio of this production has been reversed, and the country loses money on every barrel of oil it produces. 

Guatemala’s longest-running contract (2-85 operated by Perenco) ended in August 2025. At the time, it accounted for 92% of national oil production. In addition, four other contracts are in the process of being terminated. The end of oil concessions and the decline in national production confronts the state with the possibility that the cost of dismantling will have to be financed with public funds. And that the latent risk of a poorly executed closure could be externalized to the people and ecosystems that inhabit these territories.