The state-owned oil company, Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname NV, (Staatsolie) says it will continue to focus in the coming years on contributing to the development of the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country after the company is projecting unaudited financial revenue for this year to be at US$840 million.
In an end of year statement, the company said the projected consolidated revenue for 2022 is 51 percent more compared to US$558 million in 2021.
It said this is mainly due to a higher average oil price in 2022 of US$93 per barrel as against US$70 per barrel last year.
“Pre-tax profit is estimated at over US$420 million ($213 million in 2021). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) are approximately US$610 million (US$387 million in 2021). The contribution to the state treasury amounts to almost US$300 million (US$ 186 million in 2021) in the form of taxes, dividends and royalties from Staatsolie’s participation in gold mines,” it added.
Staatsolie said it hopes to continue being a major player in Suriname’s socio-economic development through “the responsible development of energy sources.
“In the onshore (land area), finding reserves and maintaining oil production at six million barrels per year remains the main goal. The cost-cutting program to maintain Staatsolie’s position as a competitive oil producer will be continued.”
The company said that in the offshore, the technical and commercial evaluation of the ongoing exploration and assessment programs of the international partners continues.
“Staatsolie continues to work towards participating in a development and production phase when the time comes. Among other things, attention is paid to the financing process for this.
“For the refinery, the focus remains on stable production levels and further increasing availability, while improvement programs keep costs as low as possible. In 2023, preparations will be made for the four-yearly major inspection and overhaul of the refinery that will take place in 2024.”
The company said it is looking back on 2022 with a positive feeling and that the “production of oil, refined products and electricity and the consolidated turnover are higher compared to 2021.
“Staatsolie looks back on 2022 with a good feeling” and it is “satisfied with the results”.
It said the production of crude oil, refined products and electricity, results are above target in all segments except thermal power generation.
In 2022, the state-owned company reported 6.14 million barrels of Saramacca Crude had been produced, about 110,000 barrels more than the target.
“A record quantity of 3.3 million barrels of high-quality diesel and gasoline was produced in the Staatsolie refinery, an increase of more than 300,000 barrels compared to 2021. A total of approximately 1.9 million barrels of fuel oil and bitumen were produced.”
Staatsolie Power Company Suriname said it has generated approximately 75 per cent of Suriname’s electricity needs. The thermal plant, whose generators run on fuel oil, has generated approximately 283,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity.
It noted that in April, the company and the US-based Chevron signed a production sharing contract for the shallow offshore block 7.
“Staatsolie has a participation share of twenty per cent through its subsidiary Paradise Oil Company NV (POC). To this end, POC and Chevron have entered into a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA).”
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