Exxon Mobil Corp on Monday decided to invest $10 billion in a fourth oil production project off the coast of Guyana, the largest in the South American country.

Guyana is one of Exxon's top bets for future production growth, with as much as 1.2 million barrels per day of oil and gas (boed) expected to be produced with partners by 2027.

Exxon and partners Hess Corp and CNOOC Ltd Consortium started production in Guyana in 2019 and are responsible for all output in the country. They have discovered more than 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Exxon's Yellowtail development in the Stabroek block is expected to produce about 250,000 barrels of oil per day starting in 2025. The final investment decision was made after receiving government and regulatory approvals for the project on Friday.

The Exxon-led group produced 120,000 boed in Guyana in 2021. Earlier this year, Exxon started a new production vessel that will bring total capacity to more than 340,000 barrels per day.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Paul Simao)