TotalEnergies and its partners smoothing the way for FID on Suriname’s offshore oil project

France’s energy giant TotalEnergies is making inroads in laying the groundwork to make a final investment decision (FID) for a giant oil project in Block 58 off the coast of Suriname by the end of 2024.

While the French oil major is the operator of Block 58 with a 50% interest, alongside APA Corporation (50%), Staatsolie can join the project with up to 20% interest upon FID, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a production start-up slated for 2028.

In line with this, the front-end engineering design (FEED) studies for the block’s two main oil discoveries, Sapakara South and Krabdagu, containing combined recoverable resources of around 700 million barrels in water depths between 100 and 1,000 meters, are said to be progressing well.

Annand Jagesar, CEO of Staatsolie, commented: “Staatsolie is happy to progress towards the development of this project with a world-renowned partner in such a way that Suriname optimally benefits not only from large financial streams but as well from a design and execution that will safeguard safe and clean operations.”

Furthermore, multiple factors are expected to play a role in boosting recoverable resources at this project, including the integration of water alternating gas (WAG) injection technology and ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic technology, which will also be relevant for the placement of the development wells and the identification of resource upsides. The first OBN campaign, covering 900 km², is scheduled for the second half of 2024.

According to TotalEnergies and Staatsolie, several steps, deemed as significant, have been taken to move the development of Block 58 closer to the final investment decision stage. To this end, the duo agreed on the field development area to maximize the value for Suriname and the Block 58 co-venturers over the 25-year production period.

Aside from this, a hull for the project’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, which will have the capacity for 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), has been secured. In a bid to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the facilities will be designed for zero routine flaring, with all associated gas reinjected into the reservoirs.

Javier Rielo, Senior Vice President Americas, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, remarked: “We are glad to progress together with Staatsolie and APA towards the FID of Block 58, which will be the next milestone in the partnership between Suriname and TotalEnergies. Our company is deploying advanced technologies to minimize the environmental impact and maximize resource recovery, while focusing on ensuring economic benefits for the country.”

Additional exploration activities off the Suriname coast may be on the horizon, as Staatsolie inked production sharing contracts (PSCs) with Shell, TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, and Petronas at the end of December 2023 for three offshore blocks.

TotalEnergies is also working on moving forward with projects elsewhere, as illustrated by a final investment decision (FID) for a solar-powered LNG project in Oman and another FID for an oil project offshore Angola.