US-based energy giant and LNG player ExxonMobil has along with co-venturers Hess and Statoil, signed a production sharing contract for Block 59 offshore Suriname with state-owned Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname.
The block adds significant acreage to ExxonMobil’s operated portfolio in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.
Deepwater Block 59 is in water depths ranging from nearly 2,000 meters to 3,600 meters, located approximately 190 miles (305 kilometers) offshore Suriname’s capital city, Paramaribo.
The block is 2.8 million acres, or 4,430 square miles, and shares a maritime border with Guyana, where ExxonMobil is the operator of three offshore blocks, including the Liza field discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015.
Suriname represents a new country for ExxonMobil’s upstream business. The company has investments throughout South America.
Following contract signing, the co-venturers are preparing to begin exploration activities, including acquisition and analysis of seismic data.
ExxonMobil and consortium partners Hess and Statoil each hold a third of the interest in the block. ExxonMobil is the operator.