Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname, Suriname’s state-owned oil company, will hold an auction late this year for deepwater offshore blocks, according to Annand Jagesar, the company’s managing director.
Jagesar told Reuters that the company will also auction shallow-water blocks, likely in mid 2023. He noted that the initial tender will focus “particularly in the eastern part of the deep offshore” in the Atlantic Ocean off Suriname’s coast.
In February, TotalEnergies and APA Corporation reported that they had made a significant new oil and gas discovery offshore Suriname, at the Krabdagu-1 well, in the central area of Block 58. Jagesar said that, although TotalEnergies has not yet made a final investment decision related to the find, the company has indicated that the block has sufficient crude reserves to justify production.
Given that Suriname has not yet confirmed its estimated oil and gas resources, “that’s the most encouraging thing that we’ve heard,” said Jagesar.