Suriname to host international oil and gas conference next year.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – Oil, Gas and Environment Minister, Patrick Bruning, says Suriname is facing a historic economic transformation as the country’s offshore oil and gas sector gains momentum.

Brunings, speaking at an event for journalists organised by the state-owned Staatsolie, said the government is planning a national conference in April 2026 to bring together various national, regional, and international stakeholders to discuss the roadmap for “Suriname 3.0.”

According to Brunings, this conference is essential to guide Suriname from a ‘Suriname 1.0′ to a modern, diversified, and sustainable economy.

“We need to make a structural leap. Offshore developments are real, investments are coming, and we must be ready,” he added.

The roadmap envisions a significant expansion of sectors that must be built using oil revenues, including: water and climate industries, eco-tourism, high-tech agriculture, critical minerals, green technology, modern fisheries, natural pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy as a second economic pillar.

Suriname aims to maintain, and even expand, its status as a >90% carbon sink, which often refers to the ocean absorbing around 90 per cent of emissions’ heat, or to technologies capturing over 90 per cent of industrial CO2. In contrast, natural sinks like forests and wetlands struggle.

The government said that to achieve this, the focus is on solar and wind energy, hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal energy, green hydrogen, and small-scale nuclear energy.

The roadmap also shows a planned reduction in the size of the public sector. Some civil servants will need to be retrained for jobs in the oil, gas, and green industries.

“The government cannot continue to grow. The next few jobs will mainly be created in the productive sector. We need to prepare staff for that,” said Brunings.

During a tour of the Kuldipsingh harbor, it was disclosed that offshore activities are developing and that major international players are using the facility, no longer needing to go to Trinidad and Tobago or Guyana.