Two weeks after France’s supermajor Total joined Apache Corporation in a highly prospective block offshore Suriname, the two oil corporations announced a significant oil discovery in the block, stoking hopes that the prolific Guyana discoveries are extending into the waters of neighboring Suriname.
Apache and Total made the oil discovery at the Maka Central-1 well drilled offshore Suriname on Block 58, in which Total had just acquired a 50-percent working interest and operatorship.
“The new license expands our positions in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, a highly favorable petroleum province,” Arnaud Breuillac, President, Exploration & Production at Total, said at the end of December, when the French company announced the deal.
After drilling the Maka Central-1 well in Block 58, Total and Apache struck oil, with Apache CEO and President John J. Christmann saying “We are very pleased with results from Maka Central-1.”
“Preliminary formation evaluation data indicates the potential for prolific oil wells. Additionally, the size of the stratigraphic feature, as defined by 3-D seismic imaging, suggests a substantial resource,” Christmann said.
“In partnership with Total, we look forward to advancing both exploration and development of discoveries on the block,” Apache’s top executive added.
Major discoveries offshore Suriname could turn the South American country into an oil producer, the way significant oil discoveries made its neighbor Guyana the world’s newest oil producer. Related: Why Pirates Are Giving Up On Oil
At the end of last year, Guyana officially joined the ranks of oil producing nations, after ExxonMobil and its partners began oil production offshore the South American country.
ExxonMobil and its partner Hess Corporation launched oil production from the Liza field offshore Guyana ahead of schedule and less than five years after the first discovery of oil, the U.S. supermajor said in a statement.
The first cargo of oil from Guyana is set to be sold within several weeks, while production from Liza Phase 1 is expected to reach full capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in the coming months, Exxon said.
Apache Corp. saw its share price rise more than 20% on the news.
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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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