Petronas cheers first discovery off Suriname

Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has made its first discovery of hydrocarbon in Suriname with the successful drilling of the Sloanea-1 exploration well located in Block 52.

Petronas subsidiary, Petronas Suriname E&P B.V. (PSEPBV), is the operator of Block 52 and holds 50 per cent participating interest, together with ExxonMobil, which holds the remaining 50 per cent.

ExxonMobil farmed into Petronas’ Block 52 back in May 2020.

Block 52, which covers an area of 4,749 km2, is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city and is situated within the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin, where several major hydrocarbon discoveries have been made.

Petronas said on Friday that the Sloanea-1 exploration well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 4,780 metres using the Maersk Developer semi-submersible rig.

According to the company, the 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, Petronas added.

Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of the 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 a 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”.

In addition to Block 52, PSEPBV also holds a 100 per cent participating interest and operatorship in Block 48, and a 30 per cent non-operated participating interest in Block 53.