Petronas sells 50% stake in Block 52 offshore Suriname to ExxonMobil

Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has completed the farm-down of 50% of its interest in Block 52 offshore Suriname to ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname.

Subsidiary Petronas Suriname Exploration & Production (PSEPBV) carried out the transaction. It now operates block 52 with 50% equity, while ExxonMobil holds the remaining 50%.

Block 52 covers an area of about 4,749km2 in the Suriname-Guyana basin. Water depths in the block range from 50m to 1,100m.

Petronas Exploration vice-president Emeliana Rice-Oxley said: “Our upcoming exploration activities for Block 52 will involve the drilling of a well in Q3 2020, in addition to acquiring new 3D seismic data utilising the latest technology, covering the whole block to further evaluate the block’s upside potential.

“We look forward to this partnership with ExxonMobil and are determined to continue with the success story on hydrocarbon discoveries in the basin.”

PSEPBV gathered subsurface information and data on the petroleum system of the block after completion of drilling on the Roselle-1 well in 2016.

The resulting analysis by the company indicated Block 52 comprises multiple geological play types. Petronas said the assessment is further supported by recent oil discoveries in an adjacent block.

In Suriname, PSEPBV also owns a 100% participating interest in Block 48 and a 30% non-operated participating interest in Block 53, adjacent to Block 52.

Recently, Petronas signed an agreement with the government of a Malaysian state on the management of oil and gas and sales tax on petroleum products.

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Occidental finished its acquisition of Anadarko in August 2019. With this, it agreed to sell the company’s assets in Ghana, Algeria, Mozambique and South Africa to Total.

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The company has said it will take 45% participating interest in blocks CI-705 and CI-706, in the Ivorian-Tano Basin.

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The three companies are making an initial investment of $680m (NOK 6.9bn) between them. Of this, they estimate 57% will go toward Norwegian contractors.

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