Significant offshore oil find confirmed in Suriname

Oil-producing country Suriname is well on the way to developing its first offshore petroleum project following the discovery of more than 180 million barrels of oil in the deep-sea Krabdagu well.

American company APA Corporation said Tuesday that tests having confirmed the find, the participating companies in the exploration project were a step closer to bringing the oil reserves off the coast into production. APA and French company TotalEnergies are joint venture partners in the block.

“Flow test data collected in the two lower intervals, the Upper Campanian and Lower Campanian, indicates oil-in-place resource of approximately 100 million and 80 million barrels (MMbbls), respectively, connected to the KBD-1 well,” APA Corporation announced.

Appraisal drilling will be necessary to confirm additional resource and optimal development well locations, it added.

“The results from the Krabdagu flow-test in the two lower intervals are in line with our expectations and provide data that accelerates our understanding of the field and will shape future activity. This includes identifying the optimal well locations that enable assessment of upside resource potential for each target,” said APA Corporation President & CEO John Christmann.

The final Investment decision, or FID, was previously pushed back from the first quarter of this year until the third quarter or perhaps early 2023.

Suriname has been producing oil on a small scale onshore for just over 40 years and is at least 60 per cent self-sufficient in terms of the national need for gasolene. Some of the fuel and other petroleum products produced by state-owned company Staatsolie are exported.

The Guyana-Suriname basin, where at least 11 billion barrels of oil have already been identified off the coast of neighbouring Guyana, is seen as one of the most promising underexplored areas in the world.

Guyana already produces and exports oil that is produced by American energy giant ExxonMobil, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world today.

In Suriname’s Block 58 where the new offshore oil find was confirmed, APA Suriname and TotalEnergies each own 50 per cent working interest. The APA-TotalEnergies joint-venture is also currently drilling and exploration well at Dikkop in the central portion of Block 58.

CMC