Total, Apache make yet another oil discovery offshore Suriname

Total and Apache Corporation have made their fourth oil and gas discovery offshore Suriname in the Guyana-Suriname basin, the French supermajor said on Thursday.

The discovery adds to numerous other significant oil finds in the Guyana-Suriname basin, where ExxonMobil is also a major operator besides Total and Apache.

The new Total-Apache found oil at the Keskesi East-1 well, in Block 58 off the coast of Suriname, as part of “robust Suriname exploration and appraisal programs in 2021,” as Apache said in November last year.

Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at Total, said on Thursday, commenting on the latest oil discovery:

“We are also excited, as new operator of the block, to start the appraisal operations designed to characterize the 2020 discoveries, while in parallel start a second exploration campaign on this prolific block in 2021.”

Before the latest find, Apache and Total had already made three oil discoveries in Block 58. The block is part of the prolific Guyana-Suriname Basin and neighbors the Stabroek block, which has so far yielded a dozen oil discoveries, made by Exxon and Hess, tapping a reservoir containing more than 5 billion barrels of crude.

Last month, Exxon and its partner Petronas said they had discovered oil and gas offshore Suriname, which adds to Exxon’s numerous discoveries offshore Guyana in the same Guyana-Suriname basin.

“Our first discovery in Suriname extends ExxonMobil’s leading position in South America, building on our successful investments in Guyana,” Mike Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil, said last month.

The basin offshore Guyana is one of Exxon’s near-term investment priorities, the supermajor said in November when it announced its capital budget for the next five years.

Offshore Guyana, Exxon announced in early September its 18^th oil discovery, which adds to its previous estimate of more than 8 billion barrels of discovered recoverable resources in the area.