Wood Mackenzie projects that the three exploration prospects currently being developed in Suriname’s offshore basin this year hold a combined total of approximately 900 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
The wells are Macaw-1, Korikori-1 and Akaru Deep-1; each hold 300 mmboe.
Macaw-1 is in Suriname’s Block 64. Spanning 6,262 km² and located 250 km offshore, it was awarded during the 2022-2023 bid round. TotalEnergies operates the block with a 40% stake. QatarEnergy and Petronas each hold 30%. The companies signed a production-sharing agreement with Staatsolie in 2023.
Shell and QatarEnergy will drill Araku Deep-1 in Block 65. The block was awarded in late 2023, and Shell’s upcoming exploration campaign will center on re-entering the Araku-1 well, which was first drilled in 2017. Although the well reached a depth of 2,685 meters, it was eventually abandoned due to the absence of significant reservoir-quality rocks. Located in approximately 960 meters of water, the block holds renewed promise. According to Rystad Energy, the new drilling efforts will target deeper sections of the basin that were previously underexplored. This provides Shell and its partners with a valuable opportunity to investigate uncharted areas situated north of the known “golden lane” and “silver lane” play fairways.
Chevron and QatarEnergy will drill Korikori-1 in Block 5 during the fourth quarter. Block 5 is located offshore Suriname in shallow water depths of about 30-45 meters.
Suriname has positioned itself as an emerging oil hotspot, following significant discoveries by TotalEnergies and APA Corporation in neighboring blocks. Among frontier basins, Rystad Energy placed Suriname second only to Turkey in terms of conventional discoveries in the period 2020-2024. Turkey’s estimated recoverable resources discovered in the period amount to 3.6 billion oil-equivalent barrels.
