Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas through its subsidiary, Petronas Suriname Exploration & Production B.V. (PSEPBV), has completed the farm-down of 50 percent of its participating interest to ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V. (ExxonMobil) from a 100 per cent participating interest in Block 52, offshore the South American country.
Block 52 is located north of the coast of Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city, and is situated in the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin where several major hydrocarbon discoveries were made recently. Block 52 covers an area of 4,749 km² with water depths ranging from 50 to 1,100 meters.
Subsequent to the farm-down, PSEPBV as the operator of Block 52 holds 50 percent equity, while ExxonMobil holds the remaining 50 percent.
Petronas’ Vice President of Exploration, Emeliana Rice-Oxley said, “Our upcoming exploration activities for Block 52 will involve the drilling of a well in Q3 2020, in addition to acquiring new 3D seismic data utilising the latest technology, covering the whole block to further evaluate the block’s upside potential. We look forward to this partnership with ExxonMobil and are determined to continue with the success story on hydrocarbon discoveries in the basin.”
In 2016, PSEPBV drilled the Roselle-1 well in Block 52 which provided crucial subsurface information and data on the petroleum system of the area. Subsequent detailed analysis carried out by PSEPBV indicated that Block 52 contains multiple geological play types and is within the favourable fairway for hydrocarbon generation and accumulation. The recent oil discoveries in an adjacent block further supports this assessment.
In addition to Block 52, PSEPBV also holds a 100 per cent participating interest and operatorship for Block 48, and a 30 per cent non-operated participating interest in Block 53.
ExxonMobil holds 45 percent interest in the 6.6 million acres Stabroek Block in neighbouring Guyana where it has made 16 discoveries to date, amounting to more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources.
