TotalEnergies takes 25 per cent stake in Suriname offshore project from Moeve

TotalEnergies has acquired a 25 per cent stake in Block 53 offshore Suriname from Spanish company Moeve, it said on Friday without giving financial details.

The block is adjacent to the $10.5 billion Gran Morgu development, on which Total took a final investment decision in October and which is estimated to hold more than 700 million barrels of recoverable resources.

The South American country has yet to produce hydrocarbons, but has ambitions to emulate neighbouring Guyana, where a consortium led by Exxon Mobil has discovered more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas.

Total said Block 53 contains an oil and gas discovery drilled near the border of Gran Morgu, and will allow for project expansion.

Spain's second largest oil company Moeve, formerly known as CEPSA, has sold 70 per cent of its oil production assets since 2022 as part of an €8 billion ($9.4 billion) plan to pivot toward "low carbon" businesses.

Houston-based APA, which operates Block 53, holds a 45 per cent stake, while Petronas owns 30 per cent.

(Reporting by America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Joe Bavier and Barbara Lewis)