Five successive oil discoveries by neighbouring Suriname up to this time will probably be more than sufficient to assuage any disappointment the country may feel over the recent disclosure by TotalEnergies that it has ‘drawn a blank’ in its latest search for commercial quantities. The company announced that drilling of the latest Keskesi South-1 well had been preceded by Maka Central, Sapakara West, Kwaskwasi, Keskesi East-1, and Sapakara South-1 discoveries. Its partner, APA Corporation said in an announcement that the Keskesi South-1 appraisal well encountered non-commercial quantities of hydrocarbons and the well has been plugged and abandoned. The well was drilled approximately 4 miles from the Keskesi East-1 discovery well.
APA Senior Vice President, Exploration, Tracey Henderson is quoted in a Rigzone statement as saying that the location “had the potential to confirm a very large resource in place if connected to the reservoir sands in the discovery well. However, suitable reservoir quality sands were not developed in the Campanian target at the Keskesi South-1 location.” He added that data gathered from the well will be used to calibrate our geologic model and inform the next steps for Keskesi appraisal.”
APA says that the Maersk Developer rig used in the operation has now moved to the Sapakara South-1 well, where it will conduct a flow test of the previously announced appraisal success.
A succession of significant oil finds inside what is known as the Guyana/Suriname Basin by the two countries has placed them in the international fossil fuel spotlight and attracted heightened global attention to the two countries and their economic prospects, going forward. The two countries’ oil prospects have also attracted significant external investor interest. Significantly, the closeness of the oil finds in the two neighbouring countries would appear to have triggered moves towards a settling of long-standing boundary dispute differences as reflected in announcements that point to the likelihood of joint venture initiatives between the two nations.
