Page 8 - LatAmOil Week 40 2022

LatAmOil SURINAME LatAmOil

The deepwater auctions will cover acreage in the north-eastern section of the offshore zone (Image: Staatsolie)

However, they did indicate that the sites the second shallow-water acreage. The latter is
included in the auctions were all located on the expected to include blocks that cover a total area
Demerara Plateau, in the north-eastern section of 32,370 square km.
of Suriname’s offshore zone. These sites cover a Jagesar did not say how many blocks would
total area of 43,000 square km and lie beneath be included in either licensing round. How-
waters ranging from 500 to 3,000 metres deep, ever, he did indicate that the sites would be sold
they said, without revealing any specific identi- through competitive bidding processes.
fying information. Suriname’s most recent bidding contest was
Four exploration wells have been drilled the Shallow Offshore (SHO) bidding round,
within the plateau to date – ANA-1A, ARA-1, which began in late 2020. As a result of those
Demerara A2-1 and GVN-1. However, none of auctions, which covered eight licence areas,
these wells contained commercial hydrocarbon Staatsolie signed contracts with Chevron (US)
reserves. for Block 5 in December 2021 and for Block 7
Staatsolie announced plans to stage two addi- in April 2022. Chevron brought Shell (UK) on
tional offshore licensing rounds by the middle board as a partner for the Block 5 project in Feb-
of next year in June 2022. Annand Jagesar, the ruary 2021.
NOC’s managing director, said the first round To date, Suriname has only licensed 40% of
of auctions would cover deepwater acreage and its offshore acreage. ™

BOLIVIA
AETN says Bolivia will reserve more gas for

export and use renewables for local power

BOLIVIA will make more natural gas available electricity production. But by 2025, he said, La
for export by increasing the use of renewable Paz wants 75% of all power output to come from
energy sources for power generation, accord- renewable sources.
ing to the head of Autoridad de Fiscalización de Aruquipa did not say exactly how the govern-
Electricidad y Tecnología Nuclear (AETN), the ment intended to accomplish this shift. Bloomb-
country’s energy regulator. erg noted, though, that Bolivian President Luis
Eusebio Aruquipa, the executive director Arce issued a decree in September restricting the
of AETN, told Bloomberg in an interview last volumes of gas that could be made available to
week that natural gas-fired thermal power plants local manufacturers that use the fuel to generate
(TPPs) currently generate about 70% of Bolivia’s their own power.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 05•October•2022