QatarEnergy to Acquire Stake in Suriname PSC

QatarEnergy has signed an agreement with Chevron to acquire a 20 percent working interest in a production sharing contract (PSC) for block 5 offshore Suriname.

Under the agreement, Chevron, the operator of the asset, will retain a 40 percent interest, while Paradise Oil Company, an affiliate of Suriname national oil company Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V., will own the remaining 40 percent, QatarEnergy said in a news release.

Block 5 is located offshore Suriname in shallow water depths of about 98 to 145 feet (30 to 45 meters). The license is currently proceeding to its second exploration phase with a commitment to drill an exploration well, according to the release.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy President and CEO said, “This agreement highlights our continued commitment to exploring the promising basins of Suriname and marks an exciting new partnership with Chevron in the international upstream sector”.

"We are pleased to conclude this acquisition with our partners and look forward to working with them in block 5, offshore Suriname. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the authorities of the Republic of Suriname, and our partner Chevron for their support in reaching this agreement,” he added.

In December 2023, QatarEnergy signed a PSC for Suriname’s Block 65, owning a 40 percent interest in the block with Shell plc holding 60 percent as the asset’s operator.

TotalEnergies SE, QatarEnergy, and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) also signed PSC for Block 64 with Staatsolie. Block 64, covering 2,417.7 square miles (6,262 square kilometers) and located around 155 miles (250 miles), was awarded to TotalEnergies and its partners in a bidding round earlier in the year organized by the Suriname government, according to an earlier statement. TotalEnergies will operate the block with a 40 percent stake, with QatarEnergy and Petronas each holding 30 percent.

“We are delighted to sign the production sharing contracts for blocks 64 and 65, which will increase our working footprint in the promising basins of Suriname,” Al-Kaabi said. “We are also pleased to work with TotalEnergies, Petronas, and Shell in these blocks, and we look forward to achieving good results for the benefit of all parties involved”.

Suriname’s discovered oil resources now total more than 2.4 billion barrels of crude and liquids, and the nation has more than 12.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to an earlier report by Wood Mackenzie.

Last month, Japan’s ENEOS Corp. signed up for up to nine million metric tons per annum (MMtpa) of naphtha over 10 years from QatarEnergy, the third long-term naphtha sale announced by the company in June, following agreements with another Japanese company, Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd., and India’s Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.

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