WILLEMSTAD - Minister Ruisandro Cijntje of Economic Development (MEO) will visit Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad in May. The Curaçao government wants to cooperate with those countries in the oil industry.
The MEO minister announced this during a recent press conference. Curoil director Yamil Lasten said in addition to the minister that there have been long-term contacts between the Curaçao fuel supplier and Suriname state oil company. The Surinamese company manages the oil chain in the country. The visit in May is intended to align the four countries. Lasten: “Together with MEO, we want to use our expertise and assets to work out scenarios with the other countries that benefit all four of us.”
Large oil and gas fields have been discovered in the so-called Guyana-Suriname basin. Suriname experienced a breakthrough in 2020 and 2021 thanks to several large oil discoveries off the coast. The French TotalEnergies and the American Apache Corporation, among others, found three oil wells that could potentially yield 1.4 billion barrels.
In February, both companies announced that another large oil discovery had been made during test drilling off the coast of Suriname. This is the fifth find in two years. ExxonMobil and Shell are also active in the Guyana-Suriname basin. The extraction of gas and oil would start in 2025.