Suriname’s Staatsolie has announced the successful closure of its 2022-2023 Demerara Bid Round, where six blocks were up for grabs.
According to Staatsolie, it received qualified bids for three of the blocks offered from several companies and/or consortia.
“We thank all companies who had shown their interest in Suriname’s Demerara Open Acreage. We will now proceed with the bid evaluation,” the company said.
The winning bidders will receive notification before June 30, 2023 to conclude the ensuing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs). The names of the companies will be disclosed at the signing of the contracts.
Suriname’s Demerara Bid Round ran from November 2022 to May 2023. It featured deepwater blocks in the northeastern section of Suriname’s offshore area, which cover a geologically defined structure, the Demerara Plateau.
Drilling in this portion of the basin was done by multiple operators, most notably Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy. One non-commercial gas discovery was made by Tullow in 2017, with the Araku 1 NFW located in Block 54, and three 3D seismic surveys have been conducted in the area during 2012 – 2015.
Back in December, S&P Global had ranked the bid and Guyana’s as two that will attract further investments that are needed to drive the development of a competitive global oil environment.
Through these bid rounds, S&P said the governments of Guyana and Suriname have made it clear their intentions to the market to thoroughly assess their hydrocarbon potential. Based on the discovery boom that has taken off in the Stabroek Block, S&P said all eyes are on the upcoming bid rounds, which can unlock more multi-billion barrels of resources that will be needed in the future.
