Repsol YPF enters production-sharing contract in Suriname

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Apr. 28 -- Repsol YPF SA signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with the State Oil Co. of Suriname (Staatsolie) for oil exploration and production on Block 30, which is 100 km off Suriname.

Block 30 is in the Guyana-Suriname basin, where oil currently is produced from Tambaredjo and Calcutta fields. The PSC is for 30 years, including a 6-year exploration period, Repsol said.

Suriname has both land and marine border disputes with Guyana. A Joint Border Commission is looking into an incident in which Suriname sent a gunboat to expel employees of CGX Energy Inc., Toronto, from a drilling site on the Corentyne block (OGJ Online, July 26, 2000).

The Joint Border Commission is working to facilitate resumption of field activity in the disputed area.