Petronas Makes Significant Oil Discovery off the Coast of Suriname

News Americas, PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Fri. Nov. 3, 2023: The Malaysian oil company Petronas, through its subsidiary Petronas Suriname E&P, has announced a significant oil discovery in Suriname’s Block 52. The discovery was made at the Roystonea-1 exploration well and marks Petronas’ second successful find in Block 52, with the first discovery at Sloanea-1 in 2020. This positive development was also confirmed by Suriname’s national oil company, Staatsolie.

The Roystonea-1 well, situated approximately 185 kilometers offshore in water depths of 904 meters, was successfully drilled to a total depth of 5,315 meters and encountered multiple oil-bearing sandstone reservoir packages. Further evaluations are underway to determine the full extent of this discovery and explore its potential development synergy with the previous Sloanea-1 discovery made within the same block in 2020.

Datuk Adif Zulkifli, Petronas’ Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream, expressed optimism about the Roystonea-1 discovery, emphasizing its alignment with Petronas’ international upstream ventures and its focus on a substantial discovery with minimal contaminants.

Mohd Redhani Abdul Rahman, Vice President of Exploration, highlighted that the success of Roystonea-1 is expected to drive further exploration for commercially viable hydrocarbon resources in the surrounding areas. Petronas plans to collaborate closely with the host authority, Staatsolie, and its partners to unlock Suriname’s hydrocarbon potential, ensuring safe and successful future exploration programs.

Block 52, covering an area of 4,749 square kilometers, is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city, within the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin. Petronas Suriname E&P serves as the operator of Block 52, holding a 50 percent participating interest. The company also operates Block 48 with 100 percent participating interest and has a 30 percent non-operating participating interest in the adjacent Block 53, where the Baja-1 oil discovery was made in 2022.

This oil discovery underscores Petronas’ commitment to the development of oil resources offshore Suriname. TotalEnergies and Apache Corporation are among the other international oil companies also pursuing major oil development projects in Suriname, with substantial recoverable oil reserves estimated in Block 58.

The successful development of offshore oil production is considered a crucial step in lifting Suriname out of its economic challenges. The country is currently implementing an economic recovery plan with the support of the International Monetary Fund, and offshore oil is seen as a vital component of this recovery effort.