Suriname rakes in US$500M annually from oil sector

Mar 21, 2021 News

CEO and Managing Director (ag) of Staatsolie, Annand Jagesar

Kaieteur News – Guyana’s neighbour to the east, Suriname, is able to rake in US$500M annually from its lucrative oil sector. This achievement was not made by luck, but rather through robust policies and measures to ensure that the Surinamese government is in a position to reap significant benefits from the petroleum industry.
Annand Jagesar, the acting Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Suriname’s national oil company, Staatsolie, had revealed these figures during his presentation to the Guyana Basin Summit (GSB). This was a virtual three-day oil and gas conference, aimed at delivering networking and valuable insight into the region’s potential, along with its challenges and the road ahead. The summit concluded on Friday.
Jagesar reminded the virtual audience that Staatsolie is a 40-year-old entity, which started producing oil from one of Suriname’s onshore block in 1982. He explained that after revenue collection grew, Staatsolie moved to build a 55 kilometer pipeline to transport the oil to a refinery. At this refinery, the oil is purified and turned into products like gasoline, diesel fuel and even kerosene.
“We also use the heavy oil for power generations and recently we acquired the hydropower dam,” the acting CEO mentioned.
Jagesar went on to add Suriname’s proven oil reserves hold about 90 million barrels of oil, which they expect will deplete in 15 years’ time if production is at six million barrels per year.
“Our annual sales are about 5.6 million barrels per year,” the Oil Boss said, “and revenue is about US$500M.”
Notably, during the virtual January interview, former Staatsolie CEO, Rudolf Elias, was asked to provide some insight into the Surinamese experience in being a partner with oil companies that are interested in developing discoveries. He was quick to note that the benefits, particularly as it relates to monitoring costs to be incurred, provide a strong case for countries to have a seat at the table.
To this he said, “It is critical to have a seat at the table because you get to have someone who is part of the project team and who will know firsthand what are the costs…and we know there is a transparent process they will go through because we are at the table. They can’t inflate because we are there to see it and that is why I say Staatsolie should always have a seat at the table, because we want to know the costs of the different projects because it is the basis for the inflow the government will have.”
Currently, Staatsolie has a 20% participation stake in oil deals. Elias had indicated that it once stood at 10%, but after Guyana stuck oil one after the other, Suriname was inclined to raise it to 20%.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News