PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – The state-owned oil company, Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname NV, says it sees no reason to delay the further development of the first offshore project in Suriname.
“It is still too early to talk about a delay in the project. This will become apparent in the coming months from market research by TotalEnergies. If additional efforts are needed, there are still opportunities to compensate for delays.”
Earlier this month, Patrick Pouyanné, the chairman and chief executive officer of TotalEnergies, the French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company, told an investment conference that Block 58 is an essential project for his company and that work is underway to have it completed and approved by the end of 2024.
However, he acknowledged that postponement of the first offshore oil development in block 58 is among TotalEnergies’TotalEnergies’ real options. Pouyanné told a fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference that reducing costs is fundamental to this decision.
He said TotalEnergies does not aim to repeat the mistakes of 2010 ” by being guided more by volume than by value” and that cost control is of the utmost importance; therefore, various options are being considered.
TotalEnergies said it wants to approve four projects: “Sépia 2, Atapu 2, Suriname, and Kaminho”.
“We are working very hard on it. If I have to choose, sometimes I prefer to postpone. The oil will not disappear. So if I have to postpone a project, we can wait a while,” Pouyanné added.
The company will likely submit a development plan to the Surinamese government by the end of the year, and the company expects to be able to produce its first oil in 2028.
On September 13 last year, TotalEnergies announced plans to invest nine billion US dollars into production in Block 58. This concession contains large oil reserves – almost seven hundred million barrels – in the Sapakara South and Krabdagu fields. The valuations were completed in August last year.
The oil fields in Sapakara South and Krabdagu are between a hundred and a thousand meters of water depth. A floating production, storage, and offloading vessel with a capacity to produce two hundred thousand barrels daily will be used.
Staatsolie notes that many oil projects are underway globally, which, combined with global inflation, has led to cost increases for materials and services.
Staatsolie’s experience is that TotalEnergies is doing everything possible to develop the Block 58 project as quickly as possible.
It said the two companies remain focused on executing the project according to the agreed timeline and achieving the first oil production in 2028.
Staatsolie has promised to inform the country if new developments deviate from this timeline.
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