Paramaribo Suriname – With Guyana now having a capping stack in country, TotalEnergies is considering a subscription as plans progress for Suriname’s first offshore development.
TotalEnergies Vice President – Health, Safety, Security, and Environment, Simon Byrne, confirmed this on Aug. 28 during a stakeholder engagement session on the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for Block 58’s US$9 billion project.
Much concern was raised on TotalEnergies’ plan in the event of an oil spill.
“Every [mitigation measure] is being considered,” Byrne said.
Per the ESIA, an oil spill contingency plan will be developed for Block 58.
Byrne also assured that the company has insurance in place, should the worst-case scenario occur. He explained that while a figure has not yet been set to cover compensation to anyone who would be affected by an oil disaster offshore Suriname, TotalEnergies has a grievance mechanism in place to address this.
“But I wanna say that we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening,” he shared.
“Very big deal for Guyana to have its own capping stack” – Exxon Project Manager | OilNOW
The company is keen on being proactive. Offshore oil production is years away, but Byrne said TotalEnergies is in discussions with ExxonMobil – operator of Guyana’s Stabroek Block, to ensure its oil spill mitigation measures are aligned.
The capping stack arrived in Guyana back in June. Stationed at the Guyana Shore Base Inc., the capping stack is one of only 13 in the world. It was designed and built by Trendsetter Engineering and is owned by Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL).
Guyana is now one of only two countries in the region with Capping Stack service
Exxon explained that the capping stack is the centerpiece of its larger emergency-response and spill-containment tool kit that it would deploy in the unlikely event of an oil spill offshore Guyana. The capping stack is placed over an oil wellhead when a spill occurs. It acts like a “cap” to stop an oil leak until engineers can permanently seal the well. The massive device can be deployed offshore within a matter of days.
Suriname’s Block 58 project is expected to develop close to 700 million barrels of recoverable resources from two fields: Sapakara South and Krabdagu.
A floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with the capacity to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) will be utilised, connected to subsea wells. TotalEnergies has reserved the FPSO hull from Dutch floater specialist, SBM Offshore, for this project.
Drilling is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2026.
