(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Important oil finds in the deep sea area of French Guiana give Staatsolie new hope that considerable reserves are to be found in the sea bottom in front of Suriname’s coast. The search just needs to move to deeper layers and areas further into the sea. Staatsolie’s deputy director of Exploration and Petroleum Contracts, Wim Dwarkasing, says this in an interview with DWT. The finds along French Guiana’s coast give hope to all countries on the north coast of South America of finding enormous oil reserves. The finds were made by oil multinationals Tullow Oil from the UK and the Dutch company Shell, who jointly run the operation in the so-called ‘Zadeus’ oil field in French Guiana’s waters. Dwarkasing says that until now, Staatsolie and its partners have explored areas relatively close to cast, at depths between 100 and 5000 meters. In October, Staatsolie will start with 2D seismic exploration in the furthest corner of the sea area close to the French border. Among other things, arrangements have already been made with Tullow Oil for this operation.