The unprecedented oil and gas discoveries unfolding in the Guyana-Suriname basin are of historic proportions and make the region stand out as one of the most exciting hot spots the industry has seen in decades.
“The Liza-1 well will be equated with the 1-RJS-628 well in terms of discovering a major petroleum province in a single go,” said Schreiner Parker, Rystad Energy Vice President and Head of Latin America.
The 1-RJS-628 wildcat well was drilled in 2006 by Petrobras in block BS-M-11 in the Santos Basin in Brazil, leading to the discovery of the Lula field.
Parker said as the pre-salt exploration boom changed the hydrocarbons picture significantly in Brazil, so too will the exploration boom in the Guiana Shield, which is delivering big results, the most recent of which was in the CGX Energy-operated Corentyne Block.
“The discovery in the Corentyne Block is significant in that, if it’s deemed commercial, it will be the first discovery outside of the Exxon operated Stabroek Block that could eventually start producing,’ Parker stated.
He pointed out that there have been other discoveries in Guyana outside of Stabroek, notably Jethro and Joe in the Orinduik Block, but these were of lower quality and for various reasons will not be developed.
“The CGX discovery will go a long way to de-risking the play on the Guyanese side even further and should provide some extra interest in the proposed bid round the government of Guyana is seeking to launch sometime in the second half of 2022,” Parker stated.
He said although Guyana may be the emerging hydrocarbons powerhouse in the neighborhood, Suriname has taken another significant leap towards closing the discovered volumes gap after TotalEnergies revealed yet another oil and gas discovery on Block 58.
“The French supermajor and US independent partner Apache have hit pay at the Krabdagu-1 wildcat. This is the company’s fifth discovery in the prolific block and Suriname’s sixth offshore discovery,” Parker pointed out.
He said the find extends a string of exploration successes broken only by an uncommercial find at Bonboni.
“These finds, together with the Sloanea discovery on Block 52 by operator Petronas and partner ExxonMobil, put Suriname firmly on the map,” he stated.
