Malaysia's state-owned oil firm Petronas has discovered several oil-bearing layers in an exploration well off the coast of Suriname, state oil firm Staatsolie said in a statement on Thursday.
Suriname's offshore exploration areas are adjacent to Guyana, home to the largest oil finds in more than decade.
The Roystonea-1 well is part of Suriname's Block 52 exploration area, Staatsolie said, where a Petronas-Exxon joint venture in 2020 found natural gas in the same block. The venture has not disclosed plans to commercialize that find.
Indications suggest Petronas will look to drill another well on the block as it tries to find the volumes needed to develop the field, Staatsolie Chief Executive Annand Jagesar told a local radio station.
"The outlook is very positive because they have set their sights on drilling another well," Jagesar said, noting that another successful well would lay the groundwork for a second development in Suriname.
Most findings in Guyana have been at Exxon Mobil's prolific Stabroek block, where oil production was inaugurated in 2019. The 6.6 million-acre (26,000 square km) block is expected to generate up to 1.2 million barrels of oil and gas per day by 2027.
Suriname has allocated offshore areas to explorers including TotalEnergies, APA, Shell, Petronas, Chevron, and Exxon.
TotalEnergies is evaluating a $9 billion investment in Suriname's most promising offshore area, the French company said in September.
(Reuters - Reporting by Ank Kuipers in Paramaribo/Writing by Oliver Griffin - Editing by Alistair Bell and Richard Chang)