Suriname’s Delayed Oil Boom Is Finally Ready for Takeoff
The tiny impoverished South American country of Suriname has been battling for six years to launch a petroleum boom, which pundits believe will replicate neighboring Guyana’s oil rush. A combination of poor drilling results, high gas-to-oil ratio, and mismatched seismic data delayed the emergence of what could be South America’s last great offshore oil boom.…
The tiny impoverished South American country of Suriname has been battling for six years to launch a petroleum boom, which pundits believe will replicate neighboring Guyana’s oil rush. A combination of poor drilling results, high gas-to-oil ratio, and mismatched seismic data delayed the emergence of what could be South America’s last great offshore oil boom. Suriname’s favorable regulatory environment and low break-even prices, coupled with the recent price shock following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, will drive greater investment in the country’s oil boom.
After a slew of poor drilling results, including dry wells, during the 1960s and 70s Big Oil abandoned the offshore Guyana Suriname Basin, believing it held very little oil potential. Consequently, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) determined the sedimentary basin held very little petroleum. According to a May 2001 agency report, the Guyana Suriname Basin held somewhere between 2.8 and 32.6 million barrels of undiscovered oil resources with a mean estimate of 15.2 billion barrels. This saw Big Oil ignore the sedimentary basin, with drillers focusing on Atlantic coast Africa and Brazil.
Nonetheless, in a surprise development at the time during 2015, global supermajor ExxonMobil made a world-class oil discovery with the Liza-1 exploration well in Guyana’s 6.6-million-acre offshore Stabroek Block. That discovery, in the territorial waters of the contested Essequibo region, surprised Big Oil and the global petroleum industry after decades of poor drilling results. Liza-1 was the first of a swathe of high-quality oil discoveries in offshore Guyana, with over 35 made in the Stabroek Block alone. Exxon estimates the prolific oil acreage contains at least 11 billion barrels.
Suriname’s big moment came in January 2020, when APA Corporation discovered oil with the Maka Central 1 well in offshore Block 58. This was followed by four more commercial discoveries in the 1.4-million-acre oil block.
APA corp
Source: APA Corporation.
By the end of 2022, however, it appeared that Suriname’s burgeoning oil boom had hit a major roadblock. TotalEnergies, which was now the operator of Block 58, chose to delay the final investment decision (FID).
You see, a combination of a high gas-to-oil ratio at existing discoveries, poor drilling results, and mismatched seismic data deeply concerned the French supermajor. As a result, TotalEnergies and 50% partner in Block 58 APA Corporation delayed the FID in late 2022, alarming Suriname’s government in the capital Paramaribo. A rapidly deteriorating economy, coupled with rising civil unrest as the cost-of-living spiraled, sparked fears of a financial crisis for the deeply impoverished former Dutch colony.
That left Paramaribo hungrily eyeing neighboring Guyana’s massive oil boom, which catapulted the former British colony to South America’s wealthiest country based on gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Nonetheless, in October 2024, TotalEnergies and partner APA announced the FID for the $10.5 billion Gran Morgu project in Block 58 offshore Suriname. The project is developing the Sapakara and Krabdagu discoveries, targeting a reservoir estimated to hold around 760 million barrels of crude oil.
Gran Morgu will be comprised of 16 production and 16 injection wells with a nameplate capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. As of April 2026, the project is reportedly 50% complete, with first oil expected in 2028. TotalEnergies is developing an all-electric low-emission facility, which is expected to have low greenhouse gas emissions of less than 16 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted for every barrel of crude oil produced. This is lower than the estimated global average of 18 kilograms per barrel lifted and significantly less than heavy oil producers like Venezuela, where as much as 1,460 kilograms of carbon is produced for every barrel lifted in the Orinoco Belt.
Importantly for Paramaribo, Suriname’s national oil company, and industry regulator Staatsolie will control 20% of the Gran Morgu. The state-controlled oil company acquired a 20% operating interest in Gran Morgu for approximately $2.4 billion in 2025. This will significantly bolster the financial benefits received by Paramaribo once the project comes online and production reaches full capacity. It is estimated Gran Morgu will deliver up to $26 billion in income for the government, reinvigorating one of South America’s most impoverished countries, which, with a 2025 GDP per capita of $21,830, is the fifth poorest.
The Guyana Suriname sedimentary basin is proving to be one of the world’s hottest offshore drilling locations, with Suriname shaping up to be potentially the last great oil frontier in South America. The Gran Morgu project and Block 58 are just the start of a larger hydrocarbon boom that will deliver a solid economic windfall for Suriname. There are currently 23 delineated and allocated oil blocks in offshore Suriname, as illustrated by the map below.
Suriname
Source: Staatsolie.
The low breakeven costs for new oil projects, estimated to be $40 to $45 per barrel, along with favorable production sharing agreements, which at 30 contract years are among the industry’s longest, bolster the attractiveness of investing in Suriname.
Suriname’s next major hydrocarbon project will be in offshore Block 52, where Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas is the operator and holds an 80% working interest, with the remainder held by Staatsolie. A major natural gas project centered on the 2020 Sloanea-1 discovery is currently being planned after the November 2025 declaration of commerciality. Petronas plans to make an FID by late 2026 for the multibillion-dollar project, which couldn’t arrive at a more opportune time. You see, major regional natural gas producer Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing a significant decline in reserves and output, threatening vital regional supply.
By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com
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