With Guyana currently bathed in the spotlight created by the onset of oil production and the impact that this has had on investor interest in the country, neighbouring Suriname would appear to be chomping at the bit, awaiting its turn to be bathed in the glare of its own oil wealth.
The political administration in Paramaribo is awaiting confirmation from the Total and Apache oil companies of their final investment decision in the country’s Block 58 project this year and afterwards, the move towards first oil by 2025.
Should the investment decision by the two companies fructify, then Block 58 offshore development will reportedly become the second fastest ramp up in production in the Guyana-Suriname basin, behind Guyana’s Liza Phase1 project.
Like Guyana, Suriname has attracted a significant measure of investor interest arising out of announcements of world-class oil & gas deposits in the Guyana-Suriname Basin. The commonality of interest has led to a flurry of cross-border diplomatic traffic that has included exchange visits at presidential level and agreements to pursue bilateral initiatives designed to expand cooperation in both oil and non-oil areas of development.
Back in mid-2021, Suriname President Chandrika Santoki had said at the opening of the Suriname Energy and Gas Summit in Paramaribo that the country’s national oil company, Staatsolie, in collaboration with several international partners, was “responsible for the oil drilling and future drilling off the coast of Suriname and has received not only our trust and confidence, but also firm guidelines to fully support the fast track initiated by Total and Apache.”
Santoki had said at the time that revenues anticipated from Suriname’s first offshore development would enable the government to strengthen and advance its economic welfare and the wellbeing of the Surinamese people. “We know that our natural resources can fast-track both recovery and growth, but only if we pursue the right policies. We need to remember that while natural resources are not infinite, our desire for social and economic growth, based on democratic principles and the rule of law, is interminable,” the Surinamese President was quoted as saying in his presentation to the forum.
While the issue of fishing in the Corentyne River continues to be a matter of controversy between the two countries, Guyana and Suriname have already jointly invited expressions of interest from companies to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of a bridge across the Corentyne river, which is expected to be critical to the acceleration of social, business, and cultural relations, between the two countries, that are expected to arise out of what is regarded as their imminent ascendancy in the global oil & gas sector.
The bids from the shortlisted consultancy firms were due for submission by December 21, 2021.
