Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 37 2022

LatAmOil SURINAME LatAmOil

Staatsolie aiming for operatorship

of shallow-water blocks, VP says

SURINAME’S national oil company (NOC) and capability development programme is
Staatsolie has the goal of leading development designed to identify and address any compe-
work at some of its shallow-water blocks, tency gaps.”
according to Glenn Corrie, the state-owned This deepening of expertise contributed to
firm’s vice president for offshore operations. Staatsolie’s successes in its shallow-water bid-
In the updated version of the NOC’s year-end ding round over the last year, Corrie added.
report for 2021, Corrie noted that operatorship He drew attention to the production-sharing
is one of the targets listed in Staatsolie’s strate- contract (PSC) that the NOC had signed with
gic business plan for the 2022-2026 period. The Chevron (US) for the licence area known as
company’s budget reflects this, as it anticipates Block 5, noting that Staatsolie had secured a 40%
that outlays on offshore projects will account non-operating stake in that project. (Chevron,
for the bulk of planned expenditures of around the operator, has also brought UK-based Shell
$1.5bn during that interval. on board via a farm-in agreement.)
Staatsolie sees control over Suriname’s oil The Block 5 initiative should serve as a step-
basins as a means of demonstrating its own ping-stone toward operatorship, he commented.
value on the international stage, he continued. “This PSC and joint venture agreement provide
To this end, he stated, the company has been prolific opportunities for Staatsolie to realise
setting the stage for operatorship and has been value and enhance its technical skills,” he said.
working to develop the capabilities necessary to “The PSC carries Staatsolie through the explo-
fulfil this role. ration and appraisal stages, and Staatsolie only
Last year, he explained, the company re-or- begins financially contributing during the devel-
ganised its offshore division by grouping all of opment stage, minimising financial exposure
its geoscientists and petroleum engineers into a during the initial stages when risk is higher.” ™
single body. It did so in order to streamline and
optimise the processes of gathering, analysing
and interpreting high-quality data and all other
sources of information on the offshore zone and
subsurface resources on the assumption that
this will support the assessment of appraisal and
exploration opportunities and maximise under-
standing of the Guyana-Suriname basin, he said.
“We are also deepening the geotechnical,
software and other skills and talents of our peo-
ple with methods including on-the-job train-
ing, hands-on sessions with specialists, training
courses and secondments and participation in
special projects at IOCs [international oil com-
panies],” he said. “Our intensive competency Staatsolie already has a 40% non-operating stake in Block 5 (Image: Staatsolie)

BRAZIL
Norway’s Yara International seen closing

in on deal for Petrobras’ fertiliser unit

NORWAY’S Yara International is close to the matter confirmed last week.
acquiring UFN-III, a fertiliser production unit The sources told Reuters that Petrobras was
that has been put up for sale by Brazil’s state- now awaiting the approval of its board of direc-
owned oil giant Petrobras, two sources close to tors before formally accepting the offer.

Week 37 14•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9