South America / GoM

Suriname flag
Summary | Profile

Country profile: Suriname

Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana
Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds
Terrain: mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
Size: 163270 sq. km total (Land area: 161470 sq. km  Water area: 1800 sq.km)
Population: 475,996 (July 2008 est.)
Languages: Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese
Government: constitutional democracy
Capital city: Paramaribo
Legal system: based on Dutch legal system incorporating French penal theory; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Currency: Surinam dollar (SRD)
Licensing:

Country profile

The islands of the Caribbean basin are predominantly net energy importers, with the exception of Trinidad and Tobago. Agriculture and natural resource extraction activities continue to constitute the basis of the islands' economies, though the tourism and service sectors are growing. In recent years, the Caribbean countries have been worried that higher global oil prices will impair their efforts to expand economically. In response, the island nations have been discussing ways to better integrate their energy sectors, especially in regards to increased natural gas exports from Trinidad and Tobago to other islands. These efforts have also focused on the major external energy suppliers to the region, such as Mexico and Venezuela.

First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party New Front coalition - returned to power in 1991 and has ruled since; the coalition expanded to eight parties in 2005.

Energy production and consumption


Oil Gas
Production: 9,461 bbl/day (2005 est.) NaN 
Consumption: 12,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)  
Exports: 3,151 bbl/day (2004 est.)  
Imports: 6,032 bbl/day (2004 est.)  
Reserves: 111 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)  
Major fields:



Suriname - recent news

05 Mar 24
Suriname: Staatsolie and Block 52 partners PETRONAS and ExxonMobil sign LoA for appraisal of gas discovery made in 2020
Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname has signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) with PETRONAS and ExxonMobil for further exploration of the gas discovery made in 2020 with the Sloanea-1 exploration well in Block 52.
19 Dec 23
Suriname: PETRONAS signs Production Sharing Contracts for Suriname's Blocks 63 and 64
PETRONAS, has signed the Production Sharing Contracts for Suriname’s offshore Blocks 63 and 64 with 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.
18 Dec 23
Suriname: TotalEnergies expands its presence in Suriname with a new offshore exploration licence
TotalEnergies and its partners QatarEnergy and Petronas have signed a production sharing contract for Block 64 with Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (Staatsolie), the State-owned oil company of Suriname.
07 Nov 23
Suriname Shallow Offshore 2 Bid Round 2023-2024 announced
Staatsolie Hydrocarbon Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname, has announced a round of competitive bidding for eleven new blocks offshore Suriname. The blocks are in the nearshore to shallow offshore areas, in water depths up to 150 meters, located south of the deepwater discoveries and north of the onshore producing oilfields.
06 Nov 23
Suriname: PETRONAS makes oil discovery in Suriname's Offshore Block 52
PETRONAS and partner ExxonMobil have made an oil discovery at the Roystonea-1 exploration well in Suriname’s Block 52. Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of this discovery and its potential development synergy with the Sloanea-1 discovery made in 2020 within the same block.

Suriname - more news

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