Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 08 2021

LatAmOil SURINAME LatAmOil

Staatsolie chief comments on strategy

SURINAME’S national oil company (NOC) Elias pointed out that Staatsolie had stakes in
Staatsolie has indicated that it hopes to play an both blocks because of its policy of taking 20%
important role in the development of the coun- of each project. He also contrasted this policy
try’s offshore crude oil resources. with the experience of Suriname’s immediate
Rudolf Elias, the NOC’s managing direc- neighbour to the west, noting that Guyana had
tor, said in a recent radio interview that gov- no state oil company. He conceded that this
ernment-owned Staatsolie already had some approach had the advantage of not putting the
experience in upstream exploration and devel- Guyanese government in the position of having
opment work. Since its founding about 40 years to assume some of the risks and costs of offshore
ago, the company has participated in the extrac- drilling. Even so, he said, Staatsolie has been
tion of more than 100mn barrels of oil equiva- able to represent the national interest and gain
lent (boe) from the Paleocene and Eocene layers a closer look at development costs because it is a
of Suriname’s onshore fields, he said. shareholder in every project. ™
This experience justifies Staatsolie’s insist-
ence on receiving an equity stake in each new
project, he remarked. The company originally
asked investors to reserve 10%, but it raised its
demand to 20% even before the discovery of
large oil deposits in the offshore zone, he noted.
He went on to say that Staatsolie had become
optimistic about the prospects of the country’s
offshore zone after oil was discovered off the
coast of Guyana. “Because of the fact that Guy-
ana found oil, not in the lower part, but in the
deep parts, we said: ‘Hey, we also have these
deep parts.’ And so a lot of companies got inter-
ested,” he commented.
To date, five oilfields have been discovered
offshore Suriname. They are Maka Central,
Sapakara, Kwaskwasi and Keskesi at Block 58,
operated by Total (France), and Sloanea at Block
52, operated by Petronas (Malaysia). Staatsolie takes a 20% stake in every project (Image: Envoi)

BRAZIL
Brazilian government announces

dismissal of Petrobras CEO

ROBERTO Castello Branco has been dismissed Petrobras, for its part, issued a statement on
from his position as CEO of Petrobras, the the same day confirming that it had been noti-
national oil company (NOC), and replaced by fied of the cabinet’s decision and had been asked
Joaquim Silva e Luna, an army general who once to convene an extraordinary general meeting
served as minister of defence. (EGM) so that shareholders could vote on the
Brazil’s government made the shake-up pub- personnel change. It pointed out that Castello
lic on February 19, when the Ministry of Mines Branco’s current term was not due to expire until
and Energy issued a statement naming Luna as March 20 and noted that the government had
the new head of Petrobras immediately after the also proposed the re-appointment of all the cur-
incumbent’s current two-year term expired. The rent members of the NOC’s board of directors.
statement said that the cabinet had dismissed Castello Branco was appointed to serve
Castello Branco, and President Jair Bolsonaro as CEO of Petrobras in December 2018 and
has indicated that he supported this move. assumed the position the following month.

Week 08 25•February•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11