Staatsolie, Suriname’s state oil company, signed production sharing contracts Sept. 13 for two of the country’s shallow-water blocks with CNPC subsidiary PetroChina Investment Suriname.
Petrochina will operate blocks 14 and 15, with Staatsolie taking a 30% share via its subsidiary Paradise Oil Co. (POC).
The two parties will also sign a joint operating agreement concerning distribution of costs, risks and revenues arising from the exploration, development and production of oil and gas.
Both blocks were offered under the Suriname Shallow Offshore 2 Bid Round 2023-2024. They are in the eastern part of the Suriname-Guyana basin and border Block 52, which contains oil and gas discoveries.
Water depths range from 50-75 m in Block 14 and 75-150 m in Block 15.
POC has further interests in blocks 5, 6, 7 and 8, all awarded under the Shallow Offshore Bid Round 2020-2021.
Roughly 46% of the Suriname’s offshore area is now under contract. Staatsolie aims to have as much of the offshore as possible under contract with international companies.
Staatsolie is using data from the various blocks across the Suriname-Guyana basin to improve its understanding of the geology and the mapping of potential areas. The goal is to boost the response to future offshore bid rounds and the chances of finding hydrocarbons.
