News: Staatsolie starts production at new oil field

(CNN 29/03/2006) Paramaribo - Staatsolie, Suriname’s state oil company, has launched production at a second onshore oil field in Suriname.

At the opening ceremony, the new Operations Minister of Natural Resources, Gregory Rusland, announced the oil company and the government will aim for higher oil production to meet the growing needs of the developing country.

In order for the company to continue expanding production, Minister Rusland urged management to increase research and development activities.

Officials estimate that the new Calcutta production field holds 23 million barrels of crude oil. According to Calcutta’s field chief, Patrick Brunings, peak production of 5.000 barrels a day will occur over a continuous development period of 20 years.

Already 12 wells have been drilled in the field and this number is expected to increase to 160 over the next two years. As explorations continue, there are indications that the field may hold more crude oil than the original estimate of 23 million barrels.

The Calcutta field is located in a swamp area and Staatsolie officials publicized that minimal damage will be caused to the environment. The drilling installations are small structures in the swamp, which has no roads. All transportation to the wells and throughout the area requires boats, air boats or other marine vehicles.

Since 1983, most of Staatsolie’s oil has been produced at the Tambaredjo field. This month, the company reported 2005 record sales of US $201.3 million, which reflects a 51.5 percent increase compared to 2004. Staatsolie also reported 2005 pretax profits of US $105.2 million compared to US $59.7 million during 2004.

Higher crude oil prices in 2005 contributed to the landmark results and production increased more than six-fold, to 4.38 million barrels.

Staatsolie recently began investigating potential offshore locations on the Surinamese coast. Hoping these efforts reveal commercial findings, Occidental Petroleum Corporation of the US and Spanish Repsol/YPF have already signed production sharing agreements with Staatsolie.