Amsterdam, 20 May 2024–The Consultancy Group of Wood Mackenzie has put Suriname’s oil resource count at more than 2.4 billion barrels and its natural gas resources at 12.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf). Based on WoodMac’s numbers, assuming one trillion cubic feet of gas equals 176 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), 12.5 tcf equals 2.2 billion boe. Combining that figure with WoodMac’s 2.4 billion, it is safe to say that Suriname’s total discovered resources stand at 4.6 billion boe.
Gas accounts for 48% of this figure. Suriname is now building out its offshore oil sector. Its neighbor, Guyana, is more established. ExxonMobil operates Guyana’s Stabroek Block. Gas accounts for 20-30% of its 11 billion barrels of discovered resources.
So far, Suriname has had discoveries in Block 52, Block 58 and Block 53. ExxonMobil and Petronas hold equal shares in Block 52. APA Corporation and TotalEnergies share Block 58. APA is operator and holds a 45% working interest in Block 53, with Petronas holding a 30% working interest and CEPSA holding a 25% working interest. Drilling in 2023 at the Zanderij-1 well of the Shell-operated Block 42 “demonstrated a working petroleum system and encountered net oil pay,” Hess said last year. Total and APA are currently pursuing Suriname’s first offshore oil project. WoodMac also sees Suriname potentially having a standalone gas project. “Gas resources there of two tcf could anchor a floating LNG [liquid natural gas] development in the early 2030s,” Luiz Hayum, Principal Upstream Research Analyst Latin America Upstream, said. Only 40% of Suriname’s offshore oil blocks have been licensed, some 32 million acres, leaving over 60% untouched and ripe with potential, according to information from Suriname’s state oil company Staatsolie NV.
