Record five oil exploration wells to be drilled in Suriname

French company TotalEnergies plans to begin drilling the Macaw-1 exploration well offshore Suriname by mid-May, the state-owned oil and gas company, Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname NV, said.

The Macaw-1 is the first of five offshore exploration wells scheduled for drilling this year and if successful, the exploration drilling programme could potentially lead to new oil and gas plays in the Suriname-Guyana over the long term, the oil company announced.

“The Macaw-1 well is a significant part of the exploration work programme for this year in Block 64. It is the first of five exploration wells planned to be drilled in different blocks this year. This represents an unprecedented number of exploration wells drilled in Suriname’s offshore area by international oil and gas companies within one year,” Staatsolie said in a statement.

It said three of the five wells, including the Macaw-1, are located outside the designated ‘golden lane’ – an area with similar subsurface characteristics, also known as a ‘play’, or regions where geological conditions are conducive to the formation, migration, and accumulation of oil and gas.

The National Environmental Authority granted TotalEnergies a permit to drill the Macaw-1 well at the end of April. TotalEnergies has contracted Stena Drilling to carry out the drilling, using the Stena DrillMAX drill ship.

The vessel previously drilled in Guyana for ExxonMobil. Following its work in Guyana, Stena DrillMAX underwent maintenance and safety checks in Curaçao. The vessel is now scheduled to depart for Suriname on May 15 and begin drilling four days later.

“The drilling of the Macaw-1 will take 80 working days. The drilling activities will be fully supported from a port facility, a shore base, in Suriname. This means that the supply of the drilling vessel with, among other things, materials, fuel, food and drinks will take place from a port in Paramaribo,” said Staatsolie.

“Personnel will also be flown to and from the vessel from Paramaribo,” Staatsolie added. “The drilling activities of the four other exploration wells will also be fully supported from a shore base in Suriname,” it said.

Block 64 is situated in the central northern region of Suriname’s territorial waters, approximately 280 kilometres from the coast, with water depths ranging from 1,000 metres to 3,000 metres. TotalEnergies holds a 40 per cent participation interest and serves as the operator. Petronas and QatarEnergy each hold a 30 per cent stake.

Staatsolie said at least four other exploration wells will be drilled in the second half of this year. In Block 52, operated by Petronas, the Caiman-1 and Kiskadee-1 wells will test prospects within the golden lane. In Block 5, operator Chevron will drill the Korikori-1. This well lies outside the golden lane, just like the Araku Deep-1 in Block 65. Shell is the operator in Block 65.

“Success of the exploration drilling programme could potentially lead to new oil and gas plays in the long term. This year could potentially be a very important one for further growth of the offshore oil and gas industry in Suriname,” Staatsolie said.

– CMC