By Canadian Press

French and US companies to invest $10 billion to extract oil off Suriname’s coast

Oct 1, 2024 | 10:40 AM

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — France’s TotalEnergies and U.S. hydrocarbon company APA Corp. plan to invest $10 billion to extract oil off the coast of Suriname in a historic investment for the South American country, officials announced Tuesday.

The first oil is expected by mid-2028, with an anticipated production of 220,000 barrels per day, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné, who flew to Suriname to personally announce the investment, the country’s largest to date.

The so-called GranMorgu project focuses on an offshore area believed to contain some 700 million barrels of oil. It is adjacent to a successful ExxonMobil project in waters belonging to neighboring Guyana.

“Today is a historic day for Suriname,” said a jubilant President Chan Santokhi, calling it “a day that will determine our future.”

TotalEnergies will partner with APA Corp, a holding company for Apache Corporation, a Texas-based hydrocarbon exploration business, and Staatsolie, the local national oil producer representing the Surinamese government.

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Staatsolie plans to issue bonds in 2025 to finance its participation, since it is entitled to a 20% stake under the production sharing contract. The company secured an initial $175 million payment and is now in talks with banks and planning a bond offer to complete a second payment, Jagesar said.

Santokhi said the anticipated revenue from the project would be used to raise the standard of living in Suriname, a country of more than 640,000 people with a poverty rate of 18%, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

“This is a game-changer,” he said.

Suriname holds $3.5 billion in debt and is undergoing a three-year, $688 IMF restructuring program that led to austerity measures and sparked violent protests last year.

Annand Jagesar, CEO of Staatsolie, said that the oil exploration deal means that “Suriname will never be the same.”

But he warned of potential poor governance, noting how Venezuela had plenty of reserves but still struggled economically since it did not develop other resources and was oil dependent.

TotalEnergies has pledged to develop its project responsibly, utilizing advanced technologies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Gerold Rozenblad, The Associated Press