Trinidad-based marine environmental consultancy CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (Trinidad) Ltd. has completed a deepwater environmental monitoring program for a major offshore energy operator in the Guyana-Suriname basin.
The company disclosed on August 17 that the program covered surveys at depths of about 2,500 meters and was designed to establish environmental baseline data for assessing potential effects from offshore exploration drilling and production activities.
CSA said the work included sediment sampling for physicochemical and benthic macroinfaunal analysis, underwater photographic surveys and water column sampling. The water surveys included hydrographic profiling and discrete water chemistry measurements.
The surveys were carried out by multidisciplinary teams comprising international, regional and local marine scientists and offshore operations specialists. CSA said the resulting environmental baseline datasets have been accepted by regulators.
“Collectively, these datasets informed baseline surveys, providing a critical reference framework for evaluating potential environmental effects associated with exploration drilling and production activities in ultra-deepwater settings,” the company said.
The company described the monitoring program as the first of its kind in the region. It uses an adaptive framework that allows monitoring methods to evolve based on survey results and offshore activities.
CSA has completed more than 100 environmental field and desktop assessments in water depths exceeding 1,000 meters. The company said the latest program combines its international experience in deepwater environmental monitoring with regional partnerships, regulatory expertise and local environmental knowledge.
The work comes as offshore activity continues to expand across the Guyana-Suriname basin, including exploration drilling and production development in increasingly deepwater environments.
Guyana is already producing more than 900,000 barrels of oil per day from four floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels offshore, with additional developments under construction. Suriname is preparing for first oil from the GranMorgu project in Block 58 later this decade, while additional developments in Blocks 52 and 53 are expected to expand the country’s offshore production profile.
