In pursuit of the realization of its economic ambition of transforming itself into a world class oil-producing country, Suriname, Guyana’s neighbour to the east has secured recent agreements with Middle East oil giant, Qatar, which will see the realization of two Production Sharing Agreements between the two countries. The Agreements pertain to Blocks 6 and 8 offshore Suriname and follows successful bids in the two blocks first made public back in June 2021. Information released on the Agreement states that “QatarEnergy will own a 20% working interest in both blocks, where licensing of the new 3D seismic and associated exploration activities are planned.” The disclosure indicates that the remaining working interest “is shared equally between TotalEnergies (Operator) and Staatsolie’s affiliate, Paradise Oil Company.”
For more than a decade, the oil resources of Guyana and Suriname have attracted widespread international attention, the two countries widely believed to be future powerhouses in the global oil and gas industry. While the pursuits of ExxonMobil, primarily, have seen Guyana get out of the ‘starting blocks’ first, Surname’s prospects as a world class oil producer remain strong enough to attract the attention of several of the ‘big players’ in the sector. The signing of the Agreement between Qatar and Suriname was deemed to have been important enough to have the Middle East oil giant’s President of the state-run Qatar Energy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi to travel to Paramaribo for the signing. “We are pleased to have concluded our entry into Blocks 6 and 8 along with our partners, TotalEnergies and Staatsolie, and look forward to commencing exploration in this promising basin,” the Qatari official is reported to have said during the ceremony.
The contracts, and other key agreements, were signed on behalf of QatarEnergy by Mr. Ali Abdulla Al-Mana, the Manager of International Upstream & Exploration during a ceremony hosted by Staatsolie. The adjacent Blocks 6 and 8 lie immediately South of Block 58 in shallow waters, with depths ranging between 40 and 65 meters. The changing fortunes of Guyana and Suriname, both long regarded as the economic minnows of South America has already begun to attract significant international attention on account of the projected extent of the two countries oil resources and how this could impact both the developmental fortunes of the two countries, going forward, as well as the global oil and gas industry.
