Large volumes of associated natural gas discovered with oil off the coast of both Guyana and Suriname can play a major role in the transformation of these neighbouring countries which are now moving to develop their deepwater hydrocarbon resources. Rudolf Elias, Chief Executive Officer of Suriname’s state oil company, Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname NV, sees much scope for cooperation in this regard.
“I think it is extremely important that Suriname and Guyana are looking for the strengths and weaknesses that we have in all the sectors,” he said on a recent virtual panel discussion. “…one of the things for sure that we have to work together on is to bring all of the associated gases…to bring that onshore somehow in order for us to prosper and to bring some cheap energy into our countries.”
Suriname expects to earn up to $60 billion from offshore discoveries – Rudolf Elias
In this regard, talks are already advancing to pipe gas to shore from the Liza field in Guyana. The country’s Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, told OilNOW in a recent interview the landing site for the pipeline and location for the infrastructure is to be set up for the gas to power project would be finalized before the end of the year, while work is expected to begin in 2021.
Around 9 trillion cubic feet of gas have been found with the oil discovered off the coast of Guyana since 2015 and UK-based global energy consultancy group Wood Mackenzie had said over a trillion cubic feet of gas was found along with the oil at the Maka Central-1 discovery offshore Suriname earlier this year.
Even with the 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent found so far at Guyana’s Stabroek Block and three discoveries made to date offshore Suriname, yet-to-be discovered resources in the Guyana-Suriname basin are still estimated to be in the billions of barrels for oil and trillions of cubic feet for natural gas.
The newly-elected leaders of Guyana and Suriname met in August and have committed to pursuing areas of cooperation that will fast track the development of the two oil-producing nations.
