Suriname's oil agency Staatsolie has agreed to award a production sharing contract for offshore Block 59 to a consortium consisting of ExxonMobil, Hess and Statoil under the country's "Open Door Policy."
Staatsolie has also reached an agreement with Statoil over Block 60.
Both the consortium and Statoil are expected to sign the PSC’s no later than the second week of July 2017.
Activity has been ramping up in Suriname, which neighbours Guyana, where ExxonMobil made the massive Liza discovery in 2015.
Earlier this year, Tullow Oil contracted US-driller Noble Corp. for an exploration well on its "game changer" Araku prospect offshore Suriname. Tullow contracted the Noble Bob Douglas drillship from early October to early November, this year.
Tullow's probe will follow efforts by Apache Corp., which in April said it had failed to hit commercial hydrocarbons at its Kolibrie-1 well, offshore Suriname.
Kolibrie was in Block 53, about 80mi offshore. Block 53 covers 3509sq km, and is in 500-1800m water depth.
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