Petronas Makes Hydrocarbon Discovery Off Suriname
Malaysia's Petronas has made its first discovery of hydrocarbons offshore Suriname, after drilling the Sloanea-1 exploration well at Block 52, it said on December 11.
Sloanea-1 was sunk to a total depth of 4,780 m. Petronas operates Block 52 with a 50% interest, while ExxonMobil has the remaining 50%.
“The Sloanea-1 exploration well encountered several hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone packages with good reservoir qualities in the Campanian section,” Petronas said. “The well data proves excellent calibration of the hydrocarbon potential of the block. Further evaluation is being undertaken to determine the full extent of the discovery.”
Petronas did not say whether the find was gas or liquids or a mixture of both.
Block 52 covers 4,749 km² of the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates the basin holds almost 14bn barrels of oil and 32 trillion ft3 of natural gas. The USGS told S&P Global Platts last year that it would reevaluate the basin in 2020, although the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have delayed the work.
In addition to Block 52, Petronas also has 100% of Block 48, and 30% of Block 53 in Suriname.