Malaysian company Petronas reports new oil find in Suriname

Malaysian oil company Petronas has made a significant oil discovery off the coast of the country.

Subsidiary Petronas Suriname E&P confirmed that an oil reservoir was found at the Roystonea-1 exploration well in Suriname’s Block 52.

Suriname’s national oil company Staatsolie also confirmed the discovery after the local newspaper, de Ware Tijd , ran a story regarding the find, citing well-established sources.

This is Petronas’ second discovery in Block 52.

A discovery was already made in this concession at Sloanea-1 in 2020. Elsewhere offshore Suriname, the company had also hit the mark in 2022 at the Baja-1 exploration well in Block 53.

The Roystonea-1 well, located about 185 kilometres offshore in water depth of 904 metres, was successfully drilled to a total depth of 5,315 metres. It also encountered several oil-bearing sandstone reservoir packages. Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of this discovery and its potential development synergy with the Sloanea-1 discovery made in 2020 within the same block.

“Petronas views the Roystonea-1 oil discovery as a positive development towards realising our differentiated barrel strategy for international upstream ventures, focusing on a material discovery with minimal contaminants,” said Petronas Executive Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream, Datuk Adif Zulkifli.

Vice-President of Exploration Mohd Redhani Abdul Rahman added, “The success of Roystonea-1 is expected to drive further exploration for commercially viable hydrocarbon resources in the surrounding areas. Petronas will continue to work closely with the host authority, Staatsolie, and partners to unlock Suriname’s hydrocarbon potential. We look forward to implementing safe and successful future exploration programmes together.”

Block 52, which covers an area of 4,749 square kilometres, is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city, within the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin. Petronas Suriname E&P is the operator of Block 52 with a 50 per cent participating interest. In addition to Block 52, Petronas Suriname E&P operates Block 48 with 100 per cent participating interest. It is also a partner with 30 per cent non-operating participating interest in the adjacent Block 53, where the Baja-1 oil discovery was made in 2022.

Petronas is the second international oil company that is now taking serious steps to execute a major oil development offshore Suriname. In September, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné announced during a visit to Suriname that the process was being initiated for development of Block 58.

Apache Corporation, partner of TotalEnergies, has confirmed at least 700 million recoverable barrels of oil in that block. Production costs have been estimated at US$9 billion. Staatsolie can participate in this development up to a maximum of 20 per cent.

Offshore oil production is seen as one of the most important options for lifting the country out of the economic malaise in Suriname, which is currently implementing an economic recovery plan with the support of the International Monetary Fund.

CMC