PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – A recurring theme at the Suriname Energy, Oil & Gas Summit (SEOGS) 2025 technical conference was the drive for lower emissions in offshore oil and gas operations. Panelists from SBM Offshore, TotalEnergies, and S&P Global provided insights into strategies for reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane emissions across FPSO designs and upstream activities.
Pierre Morin, Group Business Development Director at SBM Offshore, discussed the company’s FPSO decarbonization journey. He noted that improvements across their fleet have led to a reduction of over 500,000 tons of CO₂ between the Destiny and Prosperity FPSOs. He emphasized SBM’s goal of achieving near-zero emissions operations, saying, “The objective is to make the flare minimum.”
TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu Project also featured prominently in the discussion on methane reduction and environmental responsibility. Herve Pichardie, Field Operations Manager, and Mehrdad Ahmadian, Lead Process Engineer, outlined a dual approach from both operational and design standpoints.
Pichardie described methane as a key contributor to global warming, stating, “one-third of the global warming is due to methane.” He highlighted TotalEnergies’ adherence to the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 framework and noted that the company has achieved the OGMP 2.0 gold standard for four consecutive years. “Monitoring and reporting is really important,” he said, pointing to the GranMorgu FPSO’s protective emission monitoring system and its commitment to zero routine flaring and no venting.
Ahmadian discussed the technical elements supporting these goals, including a closed flare system and flare gas recovery, aligned with TotalEnergies’ zero flaring ambition.
Adding a regional emissions perspective, Susana Santos, Upstream GHG Emissions Analyst for Latin America and Frontier North America at S&P Global Commodity Insights, shared data comparing GHG intensity across projects. The GHG intensity of ExxonMobil’s Liza development was estimated at 7 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) at peak production, and 14 kg CO₂e/boe over its lifecycle. For TotalEnergies’ GranMorgu project, the corresponding figures were 10 kg CO₂e/boe and 15 kg CO₂e/boe.
Santos also noted that methane, while a smaller share of total emissions, remains a critical area for control. “Methane can go as low as 3% of total emissions with stringent control and efficient flare systems,” she said.
Other speakers included Juan Simonelli, Partner at Environmental Resources Management (ERM), who spoke on decarbonization as a driver for sustainable offshore development; and Clyde Griffith, Advisor at Suriname’s Ministry of Natural Resources, who addressed sustainable governance in the mining sector.
The session emphasized the growing role of emissions transparency, monitoring, and innovation in FPSO design as Suriname and its partners move toward full-scale offshore production.
