Chevron gearing up for drilling ops with Noble rig offshore Suriname

October 10, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Chevron Suriname Exploration, a subsidiary of U.S.-based energy giant Chevron, is preparing to embark on drilling activities off the coast of Suriname with a rig owned by Noble Corporation, an American offshore drilling giant.

Noble Regina Allen jack-up rig; Credit: Mammoet/Damen

Chevron is set to drill the Korikori-1 exploration well this month, after receiving a permit for the drilling operations at the end of July 2025 from Suriname’s National Environmental Authority (NMA). This well is located approximately 78 kilometers offshore, in the north-central part of Block 5 at a water depth of around 40 meters.

Block 5 is operated by Chevron (40%) in partnership with Paradise Oil Company (POC) (40%) and Qatar Energy (20%). The well will be drilled by the Noble Regina Allen rig, which is expected to arrive in the first half of October.

Situated in the western part of Suriname’s shallow offshore area, Block 5 forms part of the Suriname-Guyana Basin. With water depths ranging between 30 and 60 meters, the block covers an area of approximately 2,200 square kilometers and lies 45 to 82 kilometers offshore, north of the Nickerie district.

According to Suriname’s national oil company (NOC), Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (Staatsolie), the drilling operations, which will take approximately 90 days, are intended to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons on the subsurface.

View on Offshore-energy.

The 2013-built Noble Regina Allen jack-up rig is of Friede & Goldman JU3000N design. With a drilling depth capability of 35,000 feet (10.67 kilometers), this rig can operate in water depths of up to 400 feet (around 122 meters).

Upon completion of well operations and data acquisition, an initial indication of the quantity and quality of any hydrocarbon present can be estimated.

While the supplies for the rig will come from Surinamese port facilities (shore base), including fuel and consumables, personnel will be flown to the rig from Paramaribo.

“This contributes to increasing opportunities for local entrepreneurs and suppliers of goods and services to participate in Suriname’s offshore oil and gas industry (local content),” emphasized Staatsolie.