Wells, Fluids, Reservoir Quality
and Resource Position
Disclaimer: Please note that the exact positions of the wells, on this hero map, is in certain cases no correct, and serve as illustration.
Roystonea-1 and Roystonea-2 e.g. are located in Block 52, and not in Block 58 as on this map.
Also the exact locations of Kiskadee-1, Caiman-1 and SAC-1 are probably not correctly indicated on this map.
Reason is that the geographical locations have not officially been published.
Most sorry about that.
If I may indicate the following?
It is truly a fascinating paradox of our digital age: we have the collective computing power to simulate the birth of stars and map the deepest trenches of our oceans, yet when it comes to the “in vogue” Guyana-Suriname Super Basin, the industry seems to have collectively decided that a consolidated, up-to-date, and publicly accessible map of licenses and well coordinates is a state secret of the highest order.
For a bona fide researcher—someone who values transparency and the pursuit of knowledge—it is, quite frankly, an authentic shame and a professional disgrace that one must navigate a virtual labyrinth of fragmented PDFs, proprietary geodata portals, and “contact our sales team” landing pages just to assemble a snapshot that should, in any modern transparent industry, be a public resource.
It seems the “virtual internet galaxy” has plenty of room for marketing brochures, yet mysteriously lacks a single, comprehensive, and updated cartographic representation of the basin’s current licensing reality. One is left to conclude that in the world of high-stakes offshore exploration, information isn’t just power—it is a commodity far too expensive to be given away for free.
Since the industry prefers to keep these maps locked behind commercial paywalls (such as those from IHS Markit, Wood Mackenzie, or specialized GIS providers), you are likely finding that the only truly “free” resources are Academic or very occasionally Industry reports, such as the Suriname GeoAtlas as an exceptional exception.
Written by: Marcel P. T. Chin-A-Lien – Petroleum & Energy Advisor – Founding Partner & Chief Architect of GLIAG – Golden Lane Investments Advisory Group – June 24, 2026.
A verified public-domain assessment of Block 52 — its discovery history, dual-track development logic, and the boundaries of what is known.
PETRONAS — Operator.
Staatsolie — 20% State Partner
GLIAG Independent Analysis – June 2026
GAS TRACK
Sloanea
Sloanea-1 · Sloanea-2 · SAC-1
Declared commercial gas field. Development pathway defined.
FLNG concept at roughly 1.5–2.0 mtpa with first-gas ambitions around 2030–2031.
~2 TcfPhase-one gas volume (indicative)
OIL TRACK
Roystonea · Fusaea
Roystonea-1 · Roystonea-2 · Fusaea-1
Material oil-linked discoveries in stacked Campanian sandstones.
FPSO concept of ~100,000 b/d under active maturation.
Earlier in the development curve than Sloanea.~400M bblRecoverable resources · Wood Mackenzie benchmark
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Block 52 offshore Suriname has become one of the most important upstream positions in the basin.
It combines a gas-led development centered on Sloanea with an oil-led appraisal and exploration story around Roystonea, Fusaea and the wider Golden Lane fairway. PETRONAS is the operator.
Sloanea has already been recognized as a commercial gas field.
The Roystonea–Fusaea oil leg is being matured toward a possible FPSO-based development concept.
Block 52 is best seen not as a single-field development but as a portfolio block — its long-term value lying in sequencing gas first through Sloanea while continuing to de-risk the Roystonea–Fusaea oil fairway.
Why Block 52 Matters
Block 52 is no longer a pure frontier exploration block.
It now contains multiple discoveries, a declared commercial gas field, an active appraisal and exploration campaign, and a development pathway that could yield both offshore LNG and a separate oil hub.
This makes it strategically different from single-discovery acreage:
Block 52 now has enough subsurface breadth to support alternative development pathways depending on how the remaining drilling results mature.
Another dimension is corporate control.
After ExxonMobil’s exit, the block became more clearly PETRONAS-led in strategic direction, with Staatsolie retaining a central role through regulatory approvals and 20% state participation at development stage.
~2 TcfGAS · SLOANEA FLNG PHASE – Public analysis / indicative
~400M bblOIL · ROYSTONEA + FUSAEA – Wood Mackenzie
>1B boe AGGREGATE — 8 DISCOVERIES · SEOGS 2026
Discovery History and the Key Wells
2020
Sloanea-1
First major discovery — established a gas-prone hydrocarbon system in Campanian reservoirs and laid the foundation for a future standalone gas project.GAS DISCOVERY
2023
Roystonea-1
PETRONAS confirmed as an oil discovery after drilling to 5,315 m in approximately 904 m of water. Now the anchor oil discovery of the block. Roystonea-2 subsequently added as appraisal well.OIL DISCOVERY
2024
Fusaea-1 · Sloanea-2
Fusaea-1 broadened the oil picture by proving multiple oil- and gas-bearing Campanian sandstone packages east of Roystonea-1. Sloanea-2 confirmed lateral reservoir continuity and recoverable gas potential, reducing uncertainty around commerciality.OIL GAS APPRAISAL
2025–26
Caiman-1 · Kiskadee-1 · Roystonea-2 · SAC-1
A four-well campaign targeting the wider Golden Lane play.
Caiman-1 (July–December 2025) delivered “encouraging results.”
SAC-1 — Swartzia Aspasia Complex-1 — announced by President Simons at SEOGS 2026 as another gas discovery, bringing aggregate discovered resources above 1 billion boe across eight discoveries.
GOLDEN LANE CAMPAIGN SAC-1 – GAS – SEOGS June 2026
Fluids: Gas at Sloanea, Oil at Roystonea and Fusaea
The fluid split is central to understanding Block 52.
Public reporting consistently describes Sloanea as predominantly gas, while Roystonea and Fusaea are framed as light-oil and gas-condensate discoveries in Campanian deepwater sandstone reservoirs.
DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS
Sloanea supports an FLNG-style export chain because its core value lies in gas volume and gas deliverability.
Roystonea and Fusaea are better aligned with a conventional oil FPSO — their value case is driven by recoverable liquid volumes and the productivity of stacked oil-bearing sands.
The presence of associated gas in the oil leg does create integration options at the margin, but the public evidence still points toward a dual-facility logic rather than a single fully integrated oil-and-gas production vessel.
A barrel offshore is not a dollar in the treasury — and an FLNG unit is not a substitute for an FPSO. The fluid split determines which chain is built first.
Reservoir Framework and Quality
The principal discoveries sit in Campanian sandstone packages in a deepwater turbidite setting.
That places Block 52 within a style of Atlantic Margin play where stacked channel-lobe or lobe-fringe sands can create significant discovered volumes if continuity, net pay and fluid mobility are strong enough.
ROYSTONEA · FUSAEA
The better liquids reservoirs in development terms.
The scale of the published oil concept implies commercially meaningful stacked pay, connected volume and sufficient reservoir quality to underpin an FPSO of around 100,000 b/d.
The public domain does not provide detailed petrophysical tables — but the volumetric ambition implies robust reservoir assumptions.
SLOANEA
A classic gas-development reservoir story — areal extent, pressure support and gas saturation matter more here than the liquids productivity metrics that dominate oil-hub planning. Sloanea-2 materially strengthened the case by confirming lateral reservoir continuity across the field area.
What Can Be Trusted, and What Remains Uncertain
The public record does not contain a complete operator-certified 1P or 2P reserve statement for Block 52.
Instead, it contains a set of widely cited third-party resource benchmarks that should be treated as directional but important.
VERIFIED PUBLIC FACTS
- PETRONAS is the operator; ExxonMobil has exited
- Sloanea is a declared commercial gas field
- Roystonea and Fusaea are material oil-linked discoveries
- Reservoirs are Campanian deepwater sandstones
- Wood Mackenzie benchmark: ~400M bbl recoverable (Roystonea + Fusaea)
- Aggregate discovered resources exceed 1 billion boe across 8 discoveries (President Simons, SEOGS 2026)
- FLNG concept at ~1.5–2.0 mtpa; first-gas target ~2030–2031
AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY
- No field-by-field certified 1P or 2P reserve statement in public domain
- No full petrophysical dataset, pressure or PVT tables published
- Breakdown of the eight discoveries not transparently disclosed
- Caiman-1 results described as “encouraging” — no technical details released
- SAC-1 size, composition and commercial implications not yet public
- Varying resource definitions explain market commentary divergence (~500M boe vs. 1B boe+)
Any subsurface audit, reserve booking exercise or investment-grade technical conclusion would require access to underlying well, seismic, pressure and commercial datasets that are not available in the public domain.
GLIAG CLOSING PERSPECTIVE
Block 52 is no longer just exploration acreage.
It is becoming a development block with two distinct but potentially complementary value chains — one measured in Tcf, the other in barrels.
The question now is sequencing, not discovery.
ANNEX — CITED SOURCES
| REF | TITLE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| [1] | PETRONAS Makes Latest Oil and Gas Discovery in Block 52 | petronas.com |
| [3] | Staatsolie Approves Commercial Field for Sloanea-1 | staatsolie.com |
| [7] | PETRONAS New Gas Find — Discoveries Equivalent to 1 Billion Barrels | klsescreener.com |
| [19] | Petronas Completes First Well of Four-Well Campaign | ogj.com |
| [20] | Petronas Confirms Oil Discovery in Block 52 | staatsolie.com |
| [23] | Petronas to File Development Plan for Sloanea Discovery | rigzone.com |
| [28] | PETRONAS Completes Drilling of Caiman-1 Well | staatsolie.com |
| [32] | Caiman-1 and Kiskadee-1 to Test Golden Lane Potential | oilnow.gy |
| [36] | Petronas Ambitious 2025 Drilling Campaign Offshore Suriname | geoexpro.com |
| [73] | ExxonMobil Exits Block 52, PETRONAS Takes Full Ownership | yahoo finance |
| [76] | Suriname Advancing Dual-Track Gas Strategy in Block 52 | ocean-energyresources.com |
| [82] | Petronas Considering Gas Development Following Sloanea-2 Success | oilnow.gy |
| [84] | PETRONAS Lines Up FLNG Route for Sloanea Gas Development | oilnow.gy |
| [85] | PETRONAS Discovery in Suriname Approaches 400 Million Barrels | Wood Mackenzie |
| [86] | Suriname’s Gas-to-Shore Vision: What the Sloanea Breakthrough Really Unlocks | brazilenergyinsight.com |
| [88] | Estimating Gas Needs for Petronas FLNG in Offshore Suriname | petroleumenergyinsights.com |
| [91] | Petronas’ Suriname Discovery Likely Big Enough for a 100,000-b/d FPSO | JPT / SPE |
| [97] | Suriname’s Oil Resources Seen Totaling Over 2 Bbbl | worldoil.com |
Block 52 Wells
| Well / Area | Year | Type / Role | Main fluids (public) | Key reservoir notes (public domain only) | Status / comments (public) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sloanea‑1 | 2020 | Exploration discovery | Gas‑dominant | Campanian deep‑water sandstones; first gas discovery in Block 52. | Declared a commercial gas discovery by Staatsolie; basis for Sloanea gas field. |
| Sloanea‑2 | 2024 | Appraisal of Sloanea‑1 | Gas‑dominant | Confirmed lateral extension and gas‑in‑place/recoverable volumes. | Strengthened commerciality; supports standalone FLNG‑type gas development concept. |
| Roystonea‑1 | 2023 | Exploration discovery | Light oil with associated gas/condensate | Multiple oil‑bearing Campanian sandstone intervals to ~5,315 m TD. | First major oil discovery in Block 52; core of potential oil‑hub concept. |
| Roystonea‑2 | 2025+ | Appraisal of Roystonea‑1 | Oil with gas (detail not fully public) | Appraises Roystonea structure and nearby closures in Golden Lane. | Part of 2025–26 campaign; aimed at refining oil volumes and connectivity. |
| Fusaea‑1 | 2024 | Exploration discovery | Oil and gas | Multiple oil‑ and gas‑bearing Campanian sandstone packages. | Third hydrocarbon discovery in Block 52; extends Roystonea fairway eastward. |
| Caiman‑1 | 2025 | Exploration step‑out (“Golden Lane”) | Hydrocarbons; details not fully public | Western Golden Lane test ~25 km south of Roystonea in deep water. | First of four 2025–26 wells; completed Dec 2025 with “encouraging results”. |
| Kiskadee‑1 | 2025+ | Near‑field Golden Lane exploration | Not yet fully disclosed | Targets Roystonea‑style stacked Campanian closures south of Roystonea. | Golden Lane test; results expected to shape oil‑hub areal extent. |
| Latest gas well (unnamed, Block 52) | 2026 | Exploration / appraisal (gas) | Gas discovery | Likely within ongoing 2025–26 campaign; exact well name not public. | Announced June 2026; brings Block 52 to eight discoveries and >1 billion boe discovered. |
| Sloanea field (aggregate) | 2020–24 | Gas field (discovery + appraisal wells) | Gas with some liquids | Campanian sands with laterally continuous gas column. | Approved commercial field; planned FLNG‑anchored gas development. |
| Roystonea–Fusaea area (aggregate) | 2023–25+ | Oil‑hub candidate (discovery + appraisal) | Light oil with associated gas | Stacked Campanian turbidite sands along Golden Lane trend. | External estimates: ~400 mmbbl recoverable oil, enough for ~100 kbopd FPSO‑class project. |
About This Publication
This assessment is an independent public-domain analysis prepared by GLIAG — Golden Lane Investments Advisory Group.
It is based exclusively on verified public sources and does not rely on proprietary operator data, operator-certified reserve statements, or non-public commercial datasets.
It is intended to inform strategic understanding of Block 52’s development trajectory. It does not constitute investment advice.
Drs. M.P.T. Chin-A-Lien, MBA, M.Sc., Ing. Geologist
CPG Nr. 5201-1996 (AAPG) ·
CEurGeol Nr. 92-1996 (EFG) ·
Energy Negotiator June 2021 (AIEN)
www.petroleumenergyinsights.com
