TotalEnergies handpicks UK firm to inspect and evaluate up to three rigs for Suriname’s $10.5B oil project

ADC Energy, an Aberdeen-headquartered specialist provider of dynamic integrated rig inspections, has been hired on a multi-year assignment related to the selection and acceptance of up to three offshore drilling rigs, which will work at a recently greenlighted oil project in Suriname’s Block 58 operated by TotalEnergies E&P Suriname, a subsidiary of France’s energy giant TotalEnergies.
 
According to ADC, the two-year contract award with a one-year option follows a commercially competitive tender where the Scottish player demonstrated its added value through technological approaches to operational assurance, enabling it to play “a pivotal role” in the rig selection process for TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu development project off the coast of Suriname, for which a final investment decision (FID) was made at the start of October 2024.

The UK firm will service the contract with support from its headquarters in Aberdeen and its U.S. business unit, ADC Rig Inspection Americas Corp. in Houston for the project, envisioned to develop the Sapakara and Krabdagu oil discoveries located 150 km off the coast of Suriname with recoverable reserves estimated at over 750 million barrels in water depths between 100 and 1,000 meters.

Furthermore, ADC highlights that part of its bid outlined a commitment to providing continuity from the previous contract held between 2020 and 2022, where the firm assisted TotalEnergies with the selection, reactivation, and acceptance of Noble Corporation’s Developer, Valiant, and Gerry de Souza along with Transocean’s Development Driller III mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs). The previous deal also entailed onshore monitoring of factory acceptance testing (FAT) and onboard installation and commissioning of the kinetic pressure control (K-BOS) system.

Austin Hay, ADC’s Managing Director, commented: “We’ve supported TotalEnergies globally for over a decade; The trust that companies such as TotalEnergies places in our business to help them ensure all rigs are safer, cleaner and more efficient is not something that I, nor the rest of the team take lightly and we are looking forward to continuing to support TotalEnergies once again in Suriname.”
 
Moreover, ADC Energy emphasized that the new collaboration is poised to enhance operational efficiencies while maintaining stringent safety protocols, with the firm’s experts conducting thorough evaluations and inspections of the drilling rigs to ensure they are fully compliant with industry regulations and tailored to the specific needs of the GranMorgu development, which is anticipated to bolster TotalEnergies’ exploration and production capabilities in Suriname while contributing substantially to the region’s energy landscape.
 
The French giant underlines that the project leverages technology to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, with a scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity below 16 kg CO2e/boe, thanks to an all-electric floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit configuration. With the first oil expected in 2028 at the earliest, the current market prices put the development cost at around $10.5 billion.

TotalEnergies is the operator of Block 58 with a 50% interest, alongside APA Corporation, which holds the remaining 50% stake, however, Staatsolie intends to exercise its option to enter the development project with up to 20% interest.