October 01, 2024 - 9:12 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 hydrocarbon exploration business, and Staatsolie, the local national oil producer representing the Surinamese government.
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.
“Suriname will never be the same," said Annand Jagesar, CEO of Staatsolie.
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.
News from © The Associated Press, 2024