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Exxon (XOM), Hess & Statoil Consortium Win Suriname's Block

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A consortium of ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) , Hess Corporation (HES - Free Report) and Statoil ASA has been awarded a production sharing contract (“PSC”) for offshore Block 59 by Suriname’s oil agency, Staatsolie.

The award comes under the country’s “Open Door Policy”. Staatsolie has also made a pact with Statoil over Block 60. The consortium and Statoil are anticipated to sign the PSC’s by the second week of July 2017.

Suriname, which neighbours Guyana, has been witnessing accelerated activity. ExxonMobil made a huge Liza discovery in Guyana in 2015.

Earlier this year, Tullow Oil contracted US-driller Noble Corp. (NE - Free Report) for an exploration well on its Araku prospect offshore Suriname. In 2017, Tullow Oil contracted the Noble Bob Douglas drillship from early October till early November.

The company’s exploration will pursue efforts by Apache Corp., which in April said it was unsuccessful in hitting commercial hydrocarbons at its Kolibrie-1 well.

Located in Block 53, Kolibrie lies about 80 miles offshore Suriname. Block 53 spans across 3509 square kilometers and lies in water depth of 500--1800 meters.

On Sep 15 2017, the ‘Open Door Policy Offshore Suriname’ will be initiated again and interested companies will again have the opportunity to submit proposals for the open offshore acreage.

Staatsolie is encouraging oil & gas companies to farm-in into Block B and Block C in the transition zone. The blocks are located in water depths up to 30 meters, where as Block B spans across 2,846 square kilometers and Block B spreads over 3,189 square kilometers.

Investor confidence on the ExxonMobil stock is reflected in its price chart. Shares of the company lost 1.1% in the last three months, while the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas – International Integrated industry declined 3.4% in the same time span.

Statoil’s price chart is unimpressive. Shares of the company lost 4.4% over the last three months, while the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas – International Integrated industry declined 3.5% in the same time span.

Investor confidence on the Hess stock is reflected in its price chart. Shares of the company lost 16.9 % in the last three months, while the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas – U.S. Integrated industry registered a decline of 8.1% in the same time span.

ExxonMobil, Statoil and Hess all currently have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

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