TotalEnergies and its partners QatarEnergy and Petronas have signed a production sharing contract for Block 64 with Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname — the wholly state-owned oil Surinamese oil and gold company.

Block 64 was awarded to TotalEnergies and its partners in the Bid Round 2022-2023 organised by the authorities of Suriname.

TotalEnergies will operate the block with a 40 per cent interest, alongside QatarEnergy (30 per cent) and Petronas (30 per cent).

Block 64 is a large 6,262 square kilometres block located about 250 kilometres from shore.

TotalEnergies Senior Vic President Exploration Kevin McLachlan said: “TotalEnergies is delighted to expand further its presence in offshore Suriname, together with two strategic partners.

“This new block fits well with our strategy to focus our exploration activity in exploring for material low cost and low emission resources in core areas for the company.”

In Suriname, TotalEnergies operates Block 58 (50 per cent) where five discoveries have been made and where development studies are in progress, with the objective of sanctioning a 200,000 b/d oil project by end 2024.

In May 2023, TotalEnergies entered exploration blocks six and eight as operator (40 per cent) alongside QatarEnergy (20 per cent) and Paradise Oil Company (POC), a subsidiary of the national company Staatsolie (40 per cent).