Suriname bid round draws lackluster response

The dramatic fall in oil prices is being blamed for the lack of interest shown by international oil companies (IOCs) in the deepwater offshore Suriname in the Suriname-Guyana basin.

Suriname’s state-owned Staatsolie reported that it has received two bids for Block 58 in its offshore deepwater bid round. No IOCs, however, bid on Blocks 59 and 60.

Suriname solicited bids for its deepwater blocks in August 2014 (OGJ Online, Aug. 11, 2014). Bids closed on Jan. 31. The blocks were determined by a nomination system during January-June 2014. During that time, IOCs acquired 24 data packages for the three blocks.

At the launch of the bid round, Marny Daal-Vogeeland, Staatsolie’s manager of petroleum contracts, had said she expected significant interest in the acreage. She said her optimism was based on the fact that the oil and gas companies were asked to decide which blocks they would be interested in before the blocks were put out for bids.

Speaking at the recently concluded Energy Conference in Port of Spain, Daal-Vogeeland told OGJ: “We have had strong interest from the oil and gas companies for the bid round. There have been a lot of packages acquired by the [IOCs] but now that the oil prices have collapsed, I am a little concerned that some companies may not want to spend money.”