Malaysian oil company Petronas has signed production sharing contracts for Suriname’s offshore Blocks 64 and 64 with the country’s state-owned Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname.
Petronas Suriname E&P won the blocks, located in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, during the Suriname Demerara Bid Round 2022-2023 in June 2023.
Block 63 has an area of 5,425 sq km and is located approximately 200 km offshore Suriname in water depths of about 1,700 metres. Block 64 is 6,262 sq km in size and is located 250 km from the shore in slightly shallower water of 1,300 metres.
Petronas has 100% participating interest in and is the operator of Block 63. TotalEnergies will operate Block 64 with 40% participating interest, with the remaining interest equally split between Petronas Suriname E&P and QatarEnergy.
Mohd Redhani Abdul Rahman, Petronas’ vice president of exploration, said: “Securing these blocks is crucial to Petronas’ effort in unlocking Suriname’s vast resource potential in the basin. This underscores the aspiration to build our presence in the country and strengthen our international portfolio, especially in the Americas."
Petronas currently operates Block 52 in an equal partnership with ExxonMobil, as well as Block 48 with 100% participating interest. The company also has a 30% participating interest in Block 53. Other partners in the block are CEPSA Suriname and operator APA Suriname Corporation.