Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 02 2022

LatAmOil SURINAME LatAmOil

Tullow exits Suriname as Shell

joins Chevron for Block 5 project

ONE international oil company (IOC) has Suriname BV.
announced plans to exit Suriname, while Once this transaction is complete, it said,
another has farmed into a block awarded to equity in the project will be split 40% to the
Chevron (US) last year in the Shallow Offshore Chevron subsidiary, 20% to the Shell subsid-
(SHO) bidding round. iary and 40% to Suriname’s national oil com-
Late last month, Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland) pany (NOC) Staatsolie. Shell will be joining the
said in a statement that it had decided not to 30-year production-sharing contract (PSC) that
proceed with work at Block 47, a deepwater Chevron signed last October with Staatsolie for
prospect where it had hoped to find more than Block 5, which covers an area of 863 square km.
900mn barrels of oil. The firm reported that it The NOC has already expressed its approval
had informed the government of Suriname of of the farm-out deal, describing Shell’s involve-
its intentions and would be quitting the project ment as a sign of the high level of interest in the
effective December 31, 2021. country’s offshore zone. It has also expressed
Tullow and its partners, Pluspetrol (Argen- appreciation for the multi-national’s experience
tina) and Ratio Petroleum (Israel), have drilled and capabilities in the area of offshore explora-
two exploration wells at Block 47, Tanager-1 and tion and development. ™
Goliathberg Voltzberg North-1 (GNV-1). Both
wells encountered only non-commercial shows
of crude.
In the same statement, Tullow also said it
had informed the government of Suriname that
it was exiting Block 54, another offshore project,
as of December 31, 2021. The company sank
the Araku-1 exploration well there in 2017 but
found only minor oil shows. Its exit from Block
54 leaves it without any operations or assets in
Suriname.
Meanwhile, Chevron has signed an agree-
ment with Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands)
that will allow the latter company to farm into
Block 5 offshore Suriname. The US company
said in a statement last month that its affiliate
Chevron Suriname Exploration Ltd (CSEL) was
set to reduce its holdings in the block by 20%
and transfer that stake to a Shell affiliate, KE Tullow drilled the Araku-1 exploration well in 2017 (Image: Tullow Oil)

ARGENTINA
Argentina reiterates commitment to

offshore exploration despite protests

ARGENTINA’S government intends to move detrimental to sea life, the beaches and fishing
forward with offshore exploration drilling activities in the areas closest to the areas tar-
scheme, despite facing a barrage of protests. geted for exploration. The sites in question are
According to press reports, thousands of CAN 100, CAN 108 and CAN 114, located in
protesters marched in the coastal city of Mar the North Argentina basin and assigned to the
del Plata earlier this month to voice their con- national oil company (NOC) YPF, Equinor
cerns over potential oil spills that could prove (Norway) and Shell (UK).

Week 02 13•January•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11