Back to overview Home Fossil Energy Two hydrocarbon discoveries enrich Petronas’ oil & gas arsenal in South America Two hydrocarbon discoveries enrich Petronas’ oil & gas arsenal in South America Exploration & Production June 30, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic Share this article Petronas Suriname E&P, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas heavyweight Petronas, has confirmed two discoveries and a successful appraisal activity in Block 52 off the coast of Suriname. Illustration; Source: Petronas Petronas explains that the Caiman-1 exploration well, drilled in 90 meters of water to a total depth of 5,065 meters, encountered multiple oil-bearing Cretaceous sandstone intervals. The Swartzia Aspasia Complex-1 (SAC-1) exploration well, located 8 kilometers east of Sloanea-1 gas discovery in 610 meters of water depth and drilled to a total depth of 4,560 meters, intersected gas-bearing sandstone reservoirs. The drill stem testing (DST) demonstrated strong gas deliverability, indicating good reservoir quality. The Roystonea-2 appraisal well, drilled 7 kilometers north of Roystonea-1 , confirmed the lateral extent of oil-bearing reservoirs. The DST results indicate strong oil productivity, further validating the quality and extent of the reservoir system. The two discoveries and appraisal operations in Suriname’s Block 52 bring Petronas’ cumulative achievements in the country to eight wells. As a result, this collectively unlocks recoverable resources of more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Petronas operates Block 52 with 80% participating interest, while the remaining 20% is held by Paradise Oil Company (POC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (Staatsolie). Petronas currently holds interests in Suriname’s eight offshore blocks: 9, 10, 48, 52, 53, 63, 64, and 66. The latest discoveries build on the commerciality declared for the Sloanea gas field in November 2025, with a final investment decision (F