Suriname launches bid round for offshore blocks

Suriname's state-owned oil company Staatsolie has launched a bid round for six offshore blocks as part of an effort by the government to exploit what it says are substantial hydrocarbon resources.

The bid round follows a string of discoveries by international oil companies since January 2020, which have encouraged the government to set a 2025 target for first oil.

The data room on the blocks will open on 28 November and will close on 28 April 2023, with bids closing on 31 May 2023, Staatsolie said.

The blocks being offered — 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 68 — cover 43,956 km² (16,970 mile²) and are located about 200km (124 miles) off the coast and east of the recent discoveries. They are in water depths of 400-3,500m (1,300-11,500 ft).

Recent independent remapping contracted by Staatsolie indicated the acreage has unrisked — or still speculative — potential of over 41bn bl, it said.

"Even though oil is considered more likely at this stage, the equivalent gas case for the mapped prospects and leads could exceed 30 Tcf mean and an upside of over 60 Tcf unrisked," the company said.

International oil companies have rushed to Suriname's offshore acreage, as the government hopes to emulate neighbouring Guyana, where US major ExxonMobil started crude production in 2019 and is reporting estimated recoverable resources of 11bn bl, forecasting output of 1.2mn b/d by 2027.

Among the most active prospectors offshore Suriname is US firm APA that has made several oil discoveries on block 58 in a consortium with France's TotalEnergies, and on block 53 with Malaysia's Petronas and Spain's Cespa.

But Suriname government's hope for the start of crude production in 2025 could be frustrated by "a lack of confidence in understanding the reservoirs discovered to date, driven by a mismatch between what seismic data shows and the results of delineation wells," TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said last month.

The company has delayed an investment decision until 2023.

Other companies with production-sharing contracts with Staatsolie include ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and Qatari QPI.

Suriname's oil production comes from the 16,500 b/d Staatsolie-operated onshore Tambaredjo field. The crude is processed at the company's 15,000 b/d Tout Lui Faut refinery.

By Canute James