The Caribbean has seen a surge in new potential in the upstream oil and gas market. As political tension rises in the region due to the ongoing increased military activity by the United States near the coast of Venezuela, some nations are developing upstream oil and gas projects that will reshape regional energy output capacity. Suriname has recently completed a new offshore exploration well and is developing several other large-scale upstream developments that will boost the Caribbean nation’s future development, potentially reshaping the regional flow of oil and gas into the international market.
Suriname’s rapid transformation of its upstream oil and gas market is picking up traction
The small South American nation stands on the cusp of redefining the potential of its conventional oil and gas sector through several new wells that have been completed and a wide range of potential exploration blocks that may be drilled in the near future. With the new year just around the corner, Suriname is aiming to ring in the new year with a renewed sense of optimism for the future development of its upstream output capacity.
Suriname is quickly becoming the region’s newest upstream development hub, attracting a wave of new investments and drilling in regions that have largely been overlooked by the international energy companies that operate in the region. Recent exploration efforts have confirmed estimated gas and oil reserves that reach into 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and 12.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The Guyana-Suriname basin may hold the key to Suriname’s rapid expansion
The nation has noted that the plan is to drill up to ten new wells in the Guyana-Suriname basin between this year and 2027. This underscores the nation’s exploration and appraisal efforts that may redefine regional energy production. State energy utility, Staatsolie, has noted the rapid expansion of the nation’s upstream market will position Suriname as the next driver of growth in the energy market in the Caribbean.
Several new wells and discoveries have opened the door to a world of opportunities
Suriname’s Block 58 development, which is operated by TotalEnergies, alongside its partner, the APA Corporation, has been at the center of the upstream expansion in the nation. After several new discoveries in the region, Total and APA have sanctioned the new GranMorgu project, which they note is expected to deliver its first oil to the market in 2028.
TotalEnergies added to its growing presence in the region with its acquisition of 25% in Block 53, alongside long-term partner APA and Petronas. Total’s GranMorgu development represents the largest industrial investment in the nation’s history. Petronas’ Block 52 operations have also been picking up steam, having made discoveries at Sloanea, Roystonea, and Fusaea.
As other South American nations develop new projects that have attracted some of the largest energy companies in the world, such as Shell, boosting its stake in Brazil’s pre-salt assets, Suriname is set to rapidly increase its upstream developments through the myriad of new developments. Together, these projects and new discoveries position Suriname as the next major upstream market in the Caribbean region.
With 2026 around the corner, a new surge in upstream activity has emerged
It would appear that Suriname’s New Year’s resolution is to rapidly advance its upstream market to reach new heights. As the Caribbean region grapples with the latest political tensions between the United States and Venezuela, the market is continuing onwards towards a new era of dramatic upstream activity that will without a doubt reshape the energy power dynamic in South America. As new upstream developments are set to surge over the next few years, the developing upstream market in Suriname is set to drive the sector into the new year.
