PETRONAS and ExxonMobil are seeking to hit a third jackpot in Suriname’s offshore block 52.
Last November, PETRONAS hit pay at the Roystonea-1 exploration well.
It reached a total depth of 5,315 meters. Petronas said that the discovery is poised to play a crucial role in the company’s international upstream ventures. Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of the discovery and its potential development synergy with the Sloanea-1 discovery made in 2020 within the same block.
Drilling operations for the third well are expected to commence in February.
PETRONAS and Noble Corporation struck a rig swap deal for the Noble Voyager to undertake the activities. The transfer of work scope from the Noble Discoverer, previously designated for the contract option, marks an extension of their partnership.
The contract will span approximately 120 days at a clean day rate of US$470,000. Additionally, both parties have concurred to include a new one-well option within the existing contract terms.
Blake Denton, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Contracts at Noble, stated, “We are very pleased to continue our partnership and collaboration with PETRONAS in Suriname with this extension and agreement to transfer the work scope to the Noble Voyager. This will be the third of our rigs to work in block 52, and we look forward to getting the Voyager back in action in early 2024.”
The Voyager, having recently completed operations offshore Mauritania, has since relocated to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to prepare for the forthcoming work scope assigned by PETRONAS.
Block 52, covering an area of 4,749 square kilometers, is strategically located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city, within the promising Guyana-Suriname basin. PETRONAS Suriname E&P as the block’s operator has a 50% participating interest and ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V. holds the remaining 50%.
In addition to block 52, PETRONAS Suriname also operates block 48 with a 100% participating interest and holds a 30% non-operating participating interest in the adjacent Block 53, where the Baja-1 oil discovery was made in 2022.
