Zamri Baseri, head of Malaysia’s Petronas in Suriname, has said the company would like to export gas from Suriname’s Block 52 to either Europe or the Americas using floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facilities, according to a Reuters report.
In the press statement, Baseri stated that Suriname should boost incentives for energy companies looking to develop oil and gas discoveries in the country.
“We have experience in developing stranded gas fields using our FLNG, so we would like to leverage on that,” Baseri said.
However, Baseri did not specify the incentives his company is looking for, but lower royalties and taxes, or commercial incentives often hasten investment decisions by energy companies.
Suriname expects that TotalEnergies, and APA Corporation, will make a final investment decision this year to proceed with its most promising offshore area, Block 58. The $9 billion oil project could be followed by neighboring areas, including Block 52 operated by Petronas and Exxon Mobil, where discoveries have been made.
In December, Petronas signed production-sharing contracts with Suriname’s state company Staatsolie for offshore blocks 63 and 64, after winning the areas in a bidding round.
“We need to speak to Statsolie on what kind of fiscal arrangements we can have, the commercial
models we can have to make the project fly,” Baseri told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said that the project faces headwinds including Suriname’s lack of offshore infrastructure and the relatively small size of discoveries made so far at Block 52.
Block 52, north of the coast of the capital Paramaribo, belongs to the prospective Suriname-Guyana basin, where Exxon has confirmed more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas on Guyana’s side.
Petronas, TotalEnergies, and Qatar Petroleum last year submitted a bid for an offshore block on offer in Guyana
The results of the bidding round are expected later this year before contracts are awarded under a revamped fiscal regime that increased royalties and taxes in Guyana, which were among the region’s lowest.
Trinidad also is in discussions with European countries to export Venezuelan gas, and possibly gas from Suriname too, Trinidad’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley said.
Baseri said he was aware of the talks, but added that bordering issues could create obstacles for transporting Suriname’s gas to Trinidad for processing into LNG.
“You have to cross a few borders and there will need to be a discussion among the governments first to allow this to happen” he added.
In December 2023, Shell, TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy and Petronas signed production-sharing contracts with Suriname state firm Staatsolie for three offshore blocks, expanding foreign participation in the nascent oil producing country.
Shell, TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy and Petronas are already present in Suriname, exploring other blocks.
PETRONAS Suriname E&P has 100 per cent participating interest and is the operator of Block 63.
TotalEnergies will operate Block 64 with 40 percent participating interest, with the remaining interest equally split between PETRONAS Suriname E&P and QatarEnergy.
PETRONAS Suriname E&P currently operates Block 52 in a 50:50 partnership with ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V., as well as Block 48 with 100 per cent participating interest.