Suriname is heading into a general election on 25 May with the successful party set to oversee rapid economic expansion based on forecast production of crude from fields offshore the smallest country in South America.
Fourteen parties are contesting the election in the country of 600,000 people that is the scene of an oil and gas drilling frenzy that will intensify later this year.
But opinion surveys suggest the favoured parties are the incumbent conservative Progressive Reform party (VHP) of president Chandrikapersad Santokhi and the left-of-centre National Democratic party (NDP) of Jennifer Geerlings-Simons.
The surveys indicate neither will gain an outright majority in the 51-seat national assembly, suggesting a period of uncertainty as parties seek coalition partners. A two-thirds majority of the assembly elects the president.
The former Dutch colony could become a major oil producer. Its current production from state firm Staatsolie's onshore Tambaredjo field averages 17,200 b/d.
But recoverable oil resources from offshore fields are estimated at 2.4bn bl, while recoverable gas resources could exceed 12.5 Tcf, the government said, referring to reports by independent analysts.
The benefits from the development of oil and gas will allow Surinamese "to always live in prosperity," Santokhi said during campaigning.
But if the agreements for the development of the resources "are not managed properly, this can lead to extreme inequality in the country," Geerlings-Simons warned.
The winning party will have a five-year term, and will oversee the start of offshore crude production in 2028 from French major TotalEnergies' $12.2bn GranMorgu deepwater project that is targeting output of 220,000 b/d.
TotalEnergies is expanding its search with the drilling of the first of five exploration wells to be worked by foreign oil companies this year.
Malaysia's Petronas is scheduled to work two offshore prospects, Chevron is slated for another while Shell will join the search by December, according to Staatsolie.
They will be joined in 2026 by PetroChina. Other companies with production-sharing contracts with Staatsolie include US' Hess and Spain's Moeve, formerly Cepsa.
The last days of the campaign have seen Santokhi's administration being accused of using promised earnings from oil to influence voters.
The government will give each Surinamese $750 from what it will earn from offshore oil production, it said.
"Everyone shall benefit from this opportunity and no one will be left behind," Santokhi said in rejecting the accusations. "All Surinamese are co-owners of the oil incomes."
