Cairn Energy catches Surinamese oil fever

Another oil company is reportedly eager to search for crude oil offshore Suriname. Under new ventures, in the first quarter of 2018 Cairn Energy from Great Britain was awarded an operated exploration agreement and is finalising a production sharing contract with Staatsolie (State Oil Company of Suriname) on acreage on the Demerara plateau offshore Suriname. Cairn Energy has acquired rights to drill off South America, where it hopes to replicate its oil discoveries off West Africa thanks to their proximity in a prehistoric supercontinent.

The explorer struck oil off the coast of Senegal in 2014 and believes its new exploration block thousands of miles away off the coast of Suriname could prove similarly successful because they were neighbours millions of years ago when the oil was formed. Simon Thomson, chief executive, said: “The interesting thing about Suriname is [that] the conjugate margin, if you close the Atlantic back together, is Senegal. So we have some proprietary understanding and knowledge of subsurface that gives us great enthusiasm for that block.” Cairn Energy is making preparations to drill near the border with neighboring Guyana. Drilling will reportedly take place in Block 45 and Block 42. The drilling vessel called Noble Bob Douglas which has been hired to do the drilling has already left the Gulf of Mexico for Suriname.

Staatsolie CEO Rudolf Elias is convinced that it is only a matter of time before oil is found.