Suriname is signaling to the global energy market that it is open for business. When Staatsolie launches its Open-Door Offering on November 24, 2025, investors will gain unprecedented flexibility: the ability to select their own acreage and pursue either a Joint Study Agreement, a Technical Evaluation Agreement, or a full-fledged Production Sharing Contract (PSC). It is a model designed to expand participation and accelerate momentum in a basin that is quickly earning international attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative lands at a key moment. Earlier this year, Staatsolie pointed out that \u201calmost 50% of Suriname\u2019s offshore acreage is under contract\u201d. International operators are already exploring that half; Staatsolie is now packaging the other half as an extraordinary opportunity. The timing could not be more deliberate. The first offshore oil development\u2014Block 58, led by TotalEnergies and APA Corporation\u2014expects First Oil in 2028. The open-door strategy will feed that momentum and diversify investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just months before the offering, Suriname\u2019s acreage map shifted again. On June 17, 2025, Staatsolie signed a PSC with PETRONAS Suriname E&P B.V. and Paradise Oil Company N.V. for Block 66. PETRONAS now operates the block with an 80% stake, while Staatsolie\u2019s subsidiary holds 20%. Staatsolie confirmed: \u201cPETRONAS has committed to drilling two exploration wells located in promising parts of the Block during the first phase of the exploration period.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Block 66 is large\u20143,390 square kilometers\u2014and sits in water depths ranging from 1,000 to 2,200 meters. It also neighbors Block 52 to the south and Blocks 53 and 58 to the west, which have proven hydrocarbons. For PETRONAS, it cements a broader presence. The company now has stakes in six Surinamese offshore blocks: 48, 52, 53, 63, 64, and 66.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of these, Block 52 has become PETRONAS\u2019 showcase. The company has made several discoveries there, including Sloanea-1 in 2020 and Roystonea-1 in November 2023. In 2025, PETRONAS drilled Roystonea-2 to appraise the earlier find. It was part of a threewell program that also targeted the Caiman-1 and Kiskadee-1 prospects<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The campaign began on July 6, 2025, with Noble\u2019s Developer rig arriving just days earlier, on July 1. Operations were staged from a shore base in Paramaribo, supplying everything from drilling mud to fuel and food. Staatsolie said the campaign would last 260 to 290 working days, adding: \u201cThese activities stimulate the further growth of the Surinamese offshore oil and gas industry and create new opportunities for local suppliers of goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Block 52 covers 4,750 square kilometers with water depths of 60 to 1,000 meters and has \u2015 Open-door policy and rising drilling activity propel investors\u2019 interest Suriname\u2019s Offshore Push Q3 2025 EDITION 39 proven rich in hydrocarbons. Staatsolie lists multiple discoveries, including Fusaea-1, Roystonea-1, and Sloanea-1, with the gas find at Sloanea undergoing detailed evaluation. Analysts at Rystad Energy believe the block may hold 500 million barrels of oil equivalent, enough to justify Suriname\u2019s first standalone gas project, possibly by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exploration in 2025 extends beyond PETRONAS. TotalEnergies is drilling the Macaw-1 well in Block 64, Chevron is pursuing the Korikori-1 well in Block 5, and Shell is targeting the Araku Deep-1 well in Block 65. These wells are all outside the Golden Lane play fairway, offering fresh geological insights into the basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pace of work in Suriname is beginning to stand out. According to Wood Mackenzie, \u201cIn 2025, for the first time since the Liza discovery, WoodMac expects to see more exploration and appraisal wells drilled in Suriname than in Guyana.\u201d The consultancy attributes this trend to Staatsolie\u2019s licensing policies since 2020, which it says are now bearing fruit. Guyana, by comparison, has been dominated by ExxonMobil\u2019s Stabroek Block, where most of the country\u2019s drilling is concentrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taken together, the upcoming open-door round, PETRONAS\u2019 firm commitments, and the busiest drilling calendar in years, signify that Suriname is moving decisively into its next phase of offshore development. Staatsolie\u2019s long-stated ambition to be \u201cMaster of the Basin\u201d is no longer aspirational; with half the acreage under contract and multiple rigs in play, it is rapidly becoming a reality<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Open-door policy and rising drilling activity propel investors\u2019 interest Suriname is signaling to the global energy market that it is open for business. When Staatsolie launches its Open-Door Offering on November 24, 2025, investors will gain unprecedented flexibility: the ability to select their own acreage and pursue either a Joint Study Agreement, a Technical Evaluation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":25,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,80],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-suriname-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1524,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522\/revisions\/1524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}