MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil wants to team Guyana and Suriname oil and gas in a regional energy corridor

Talks between Bolsonaro and Guyana's president Irfaan Ali and Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname, anticipated the construction of a gas pipeline network

Brazil is betting strongly to become the main player in the development of oil and gas production in its northeast corner, where the state of Amapá shares proximity with French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana, these two of which are set to become significant players in the hydrocarbons business.

With this in mind Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was to visit Surinam and Guyana with the purpose of creating a regional energy corridor that includes Brazil's vast pre salt reserves.

However the sudden death of Bolsonaro's mother and his return to Brazil have frozen the first official contacts on the issue.

The talks between Bolsonaro with Guyana's president Irfaan Ali and Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname, anticipated the construction of a gas pipeline network tied to industrial and petrochemical projects, such as a gas-fired aluminum smelter to process Guyana's bauxite ore.

The gas could come from offshore Guyana and Suriname that are emerging onto the hydrocarbons map, as well as Brazil.

Also on the agenda was an interchange of electricity, and a highway network connected to a planned deepwater port in Guyana, giving parts of northern Brazil access to the Atlantic.

Bolsonaro is looking to secure priority for Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras in the offshore Suriname play, which is geologically related to Brazil's offshore northern frontier.

Brasilia touts its offshore northern basins as its “new pre-salt”, with around 40% of the more than 20bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) discovered in pre-salt areas in the Campos and Santos basins.

Petrobras is planning to spend around US$ 2bn of the US$ 5.5bn in planned exploration spending under its US$ 68bn 2022-26 business plan on looking for oil in the Equatorial margin.

The company's upstream director Fernando Borges has said 14 wells at four offshore basins — Foz do Amazonas, Barreirinhas, Potiguar and Para-Maranhao — are believed to be connected to a trend in Suriname and Guyana.