Petronas Makes Its First Offshore Discovery in Suriname

Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has made its first offshore discovery offshore Suriname.

The company, as the operator of Block 52, said Friday the hydrocarbon discovery had been made while drilling the Sloanea-1 exploration well in the offshore block.

The Sloanea-1 exploration well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 4,780 meters using Maersk Drilling's Maersk Developer semi-submersible drilling rig.

Block 52 covers an area of 4,749 km² with water depths ranging from 50 to 1,100 meters.

Commenting on the hydrocarbon discovery, Petronas Vice President of Exploration, Upstream, Emeliana Rice-Oxley said: “We are pleased with the positive results of the well. It will provide the drive for PETRONAS to continue exploring in Suriname, which is one of our focus basins in the Americas. We look forward to further successful collaboration with our partner ExxonMobil and further strengthen our relationship with the government of the Republic of Suriname, as a solutions partner, progressing towards delivering clean and reliable energy to the market.”

Block 52, which covers an area of 4,749 km², is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city.

According to Petronas, the Sloanea-1 exploration well encountered several hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone packages with good reservoir qualities in the Campanian section. 

"The well data proves excellent calibration of the hydrocarbon potential of the block. Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of the discovery," the company said.

Petronas holds a 50 percent stake in Block 52 with ExxonMobil holding the remaining 50 percent. 

The U.S. oil major in May this year farmed into the Block 52 located in the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin where several major hydrocarbon discoveries were made recently, and most of them by Exxon, in Guyana. 

“Our first discovery in Suriname extends ExxonMobil’s leading position in South America, building on our successful investments in Guyana,” said Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. “We will continue to leverage our deepwater expertise and advanced technology to explore frontier environments with the highest value resource potential.” 

Worth noting, Apache and Total have been successful in Suriname as well, in Block 58, where they struck three oil discoveries in the past year, and are planning to drill more in 2021.