Surinamese hope to benefit from the oil billions from this year

Surinamese

This article was last updated on January 13, 2025

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Surinamese hope to benefit from the oil billions from this year

2025 will probably go down in the history books as a decisive year for Suriname. For the first time since the 1980s, there is no longer a Desi Bouterse who has left a mark on the elections. There is another theme that dominates the elections in May: will Suriname be able to benefit maximally from the enormous investments of oil multinationals in the country?

The new government will have to manage the approaching billions in revenue from oil extraction. This year it will also become clearer to what extent Suriname itself is able to facilitate oil extraction.

The French Total Energies and American APA are investing almost 10 billion euros in oil extraction off the Surinamese coast. New production platforms to be built will pump oil from 2028, that is the plan. Daily production should be around 220,000 barrels. The total amount of recoverable oil is estimated at 750 million barrels.

Neighboring Guyana, with an oil and gas industry totaling 11 billion barrels, and nearby Trinidad and Tobago, with the largest oil refinery in the Caribbean, are on the lookout for lucrative contracts. Including for supply and maintenance of the platforms in Suriname.

New airport

The Surinamese business community hopes to benefit as much as possible from oil production. This is how ports are constructed or expanded. A new airport has been built in the capital Paramaribo for chartered helicopters to the oil rigs and flights to the Caribbean.

Apartments are also being built in suburbs for the many expats that the oil industry is expected to attract. The well-known hotel Torarica is building more than a hundred long stay apartments. Real estate agents in Paramaribo are already signaling rising house and land prices.

The rapidly expanding oil industry needs many thousands of people: including technicians, executives, managers and IT professionals. Suriname hopes to train as many as possible itself. Companies are preparing current employees for new supporting roles in the oil industry.

President Chan Santokhi opened the new Oil & Gas and Petroleum Technology course at the end of last year. A large group of students at the technical school have also started training that could be applicable in the oil industry.

Suriname also targets Dutch people with a Surinamese background. For example, a large Surinamese pavilion will be built at the emigration fair in Houten in March.

Huge amounts

If the drilling platforms start producing, additional income will flow into the government coffers. Estimates range from $15 to more than $40 billion. Huge amounts for the country with around 620,000 inhabitants, which now has a GDP of less than 4 billion dollars.

The great fear is that large groups of Surinamese will hardly benefit, if at all. Neighboring country Guyana serves as a deterrent example.

Large oil companies settled there after oil reserves off the coast proved easy to extract. The arrival of oil workers in Guyana increased demand for land, real estate and food, among other things.

Although the government invested in better healthcare and education, life became much more expensive for the average Guyanese. The difference between rich and poor threatens to grow.

Angelic del Castilho, leader of the Surinamese party DA91, is concerned about whether Suriname is preparing properly. “Suriname has to catch up considerably in taxes and legislation,” she says. “There is corruption in both the previous and the current government. So what gives us confidence that the oil money will not only end up with a small top layer?”

In addition, according to Del Castilho, there is a lot of mystery surrounding the contract between Surinamese Staatsolie and Total Energies. “We and other organizations repeatedly asked about environmental clauses. Because we understood that they were not included in the contracts. But we have not received any response and that is worrying.”

President Santokhi recently promised every resident a savings card of $750, with 7 percent interest, as soon as oil is pumped in 2028. “A populist promise from Santokhi in the run-up to the upcoming elections,” says Del Castilho. “We now need a sustainable and long-term vision for the development of our country. Not populism.”

Strategic group

An answer to critical questions could come from Marten Schalkwijk, ambassador of Suriname in the United States and chairman of the Strategic Group for Oil and Gas Policy. This group consists of about thirty experts in various fields. Together they determine what is needed for Suriname to optimally benefit from oil production. “Not a political group,” Schakwijk emphasizes. “They are people with expertise and a broad network.”

According to Schalkwijk, Suriname must invest “in depth”. “In education, healthcare, environment and quality of life.” He and his group of experts are looking at Norway, among other places. It sovereign wealth fund This is a worldwide example of how a country can benefit long-term from its minerals. The group also looks at what Suriname can learn from Guyana.

Even before the elections in May, the group is presenting the legal framework that they believe is necessary to allow future generations of Surinamese to benefit from oil revenues. The recommendations concern the next 25 years. Whether and to what extent the next government will follow them depends largely on the choice Suriname makes in the May 25 elections.

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