TotalEnergies Could Invest $9 Billion in Suriname Oil Development

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--TotalEnergies SE's (NYSE:TTE) (Courbevoie, France) Chief Executive Officer Patrick Poyanne announced during his recent visit to Suriname that the energy company could invest about US$9 billion in the development of offshore Block 58.

TotalEnergies has a 50% interest in the oil block, while APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) (Houston, Texas) holds the remaining 50%. Block 58's main oil discoveries, Sapakara South and Krabdagu, were completed last month and contain about 700 million barrels in both assets at depths between 100 and 1,000 meters.

TotalEnergies aims to produce about 200,000 barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) from a floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO). In the following months, the energy company will launch a detailed engineering study, and it will have a final decision on the investment by the end of next year, with the start-up production projected for 2028. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production project and plant databases can click here for the project report and click here for the related plant profile.

"The Block 58 development studies that we are launching today are a major step towards the development of the petroleum resources of Suriname. This development is in line with TotalEnergies' strategy aiming at the development of low cost, low emissions oil resources, and leverages on our company's expertise in deep water projects," said Poyanne during the event in Suriname.

APA and TotalEnergies have conducted other exploration tests offshore Suriname. On Block 58, the energy companies drilled the Keskesi South-1, but they did not find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.

In addition, APA discovered light oil at the Baja-1 well at Block 53, an asset where the company holds a 45% stake, with Petronas (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and Cepsa (Madrid, Spain) holding the remaining 30% and 25%, respectively.

The development of Block 58 could offer Suriname the opportunity to further develop its energy industry in what could be a new Guyana scenario. The boost in Guyanese oil production and exports has inspired others, such as Suriname, to conduct further exploration efforts in search of larger reserves, such as those in blocks 58 and 53.

In May, Staatsolei closed the Demerara bidding for six offshore blocks. Three blocks received bids from companies, but Staatsolei has yet to disclose the auction results. Also, in May, Suriname signed two production-sharing contracts with TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy (Doha, Qatar) for blocks 6 and 8.

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