Addressing the recent deepwater discovery by PETRONAS in Suriname, Mark Oberstoetter, Head of Americas (non-L48) Upstream, said 'We understand Roystonea and Fusaea's recoverable resources are approaching 400 million barrels. This could be enough to support an FPSO with an oil processing capacity of up to 100,000 b/d FPSO development.'
Nine deepwater fields have been discovered in Suriname waters since 2019, but the country still awaits its first sanctioned development.
According to Wood Mackenzie, TotalEnergies and APA Corporation are close to sanctioning a cluster FPSO development on Block 58. Block 52 is east of Block 58 and has different owners (PETRONAS operating 50%, ExxonMobil 50%). Fusaea is the third discovery in the block, following Sloanea and Roystonea.
'In addition, APA Corporation, PETRONAS and CEPSA drilled the 2022 Baja discovery in Block 53. This is eight kilometres north of Roystonea and could eventually be part of a wider cluster development,' continued Oberstoetter.
PETRONAS has already secured tax relief if it develops gas on the block. The 2020 Sloanea discovery is now being appraised with a second well.
Luiz Hayum, Principal Upstream Research Analyst Latin America Upstream, said: 'Gas resources there of 2 tcf could anchor a floating LNG development in the early 2030s. Also, the Fusaea well had more associated gas than expected and could add resources to support future gas development.'
Wood Mackenzie now holds Suriname's discovered resources at more than 2.4 billion barrels of oil and liquids and more than 12.5 tcf of gas.
ExxonMobil is a 50% non-operating partner in Fusaea and Block 52 in Suriname, having a much larger footprint in neighbouring Guyana. The US Major sanctioned the sixth FPSO (Jaguar) in Guyana’s Stabroek block in April 2024.
'Our valuation for Stabroek’s ten-FPSO development is over US$150 billion at US$65/barrel Brent prices split between the government and the three block partners.' continued Hayum.
Since 2016, PETRONAS has built a sizeable deepwater position across the Americas and Africa.
Julie Wilson, Exploration Research Director, said 'Suriname is a bright spot from those exploration efforts. It plays to PETRONAS' existing competencies in LNG development while providing oil to offset its LNG-weighted portfolio.'
Source: Wood Mackenzie
