Diego Rodríguez Paez
Director of Logistics and Industry Practice
AMI
A major deep-water oil and gas development in Suriname, led by TotalEnergies, is expected to begin production in 2027, with output of around 220,000 barrels per day. At the Caribbean Shipping Association’s annual conference, the company discussed its comprehensive decarbonization strategy, which can serve as a blueprint for the Caribbean. This project will employ a single Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) unit, integrating technology, design, and logistics management to drive down its carbon footprint.
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Designing for Low-Emission Production
The core of the decarbonization effort is embedded directly in the asset’s design, ensuring that emissions are minimized from the very first day of operations. Key features of the FPSO’s low-emission design include:
- Gas and Water Injection: A crucial carbon-reduction technique is the re-injection of gas and water back into the reservoirs. This not only aids in oil recovery but also significantly reduces the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint.
- Low-Emission Design: The entire unit is engineered to specifically minimize emissions resulting from fuel gas consumption, liquid fuels, flaring, and venting. This holistic approach targets all major sources of operational emissions.
Driving Down Emissions in Logistics and Marine Operations
Vessel logistics and reducing Marine Gas Oil (MGO) use are critical to mitigating day-to-day operations, as up to 10 support vessels are expected during peak operations.
Tender processes prioritizing vessel selection based not only on technical availability but also heavily on MGO consumption data will be key. Modern vessels equipped with diesel-electric engines will be favored, as they are significantly more fuel-efficient than older, pure diesel counterparts.
Hull Cleaning and monitoring can decrease daily fuel consumption by as much as 25%. To combat this, mandatory hull cleaning protocols will be enforced. Additionally, operational data is monitored daily—including the time vessels spend in high-consumption Dynamic Positioning (DP) mode—to minimize unnecessary idling.
The use of fuel additives is encouraged, as these can reduce vessel power generation consumption by 2-5%. Crucially, new logistical bases will require shore power plug-ins, allowing vessels alongside the quayside to shut down their engines and achieve zero consumption while docked.
Implications for the Caribbean Region
The successful implementation of these decarbonization initiatives in Suriname’s deep-water project holds significant implications for the wider Caribbean region, where energy production and climate vulnerability are critical concerns.
Setting a Regional Standard for Low-Carbon Energy
Benchmark for Future Projects: By prioritizing low-emission FPSO design, gas re-injection, and rigorous flare elimination targets, this development establishes a new, higher environmental benchmark for all current and future oil and gas exploration and production across the Caribbean basin. It pressures other regional operators to adopt similar technologies and corporate commitments.
Driving Local Economic and Technological Advancement
Demand for Green Logistics: The focus on fuel efficiency, mandated hull cleaning, and the development of shore power capability creates a market demand for cleaner, modern marine support vessels and sustainable port infrastructure throughout the Caribbean. This can spur local investment in upgrading maritime fleets and port facilities.
Strengthening Energy Security and Governance
Mitigating Operational Risk: Eliminating operational flaring and methane leaks is not just an environmental measure; it is a best practice for operational efficiency and safety. Widespread adoption of these standards improves the overall governance and environmental safety of energy production across the region.
The Role of Incentives
The vessel operator is often not responsible for the fuel cost—the charterer is: This structure requires creative solutions, such as negotiating incentives with vessel operators to motivate crew to actively manage their engines correctly for tangible efficiency gains. By aligning financial incentives with environmental performance, companies can ensure that high-level goals permeate every level of operational decision-making.
Next steps
Contact us to learn more about AMI’s comprehensive market intelligence package, which is designed to help companies navigate the energy transition.
We do this via:
- Competitive intelligence & benchmarking studies to track regional operator performance (CO² intensity, methane emissions) and identify leading technology providers for low-emission FPSOs and flare reduction
- Supply chain & green logistics opportunity mapping to forecast the ROI and maturity of critical infrastructure like shore power and specialized green vessel fleets (e.g., diesel-electric, wind-assisted propulsion), thereby identifying high-value regional investment and partnership opportunities
- Policy & regulatory intelligence services to de-risk investments by providing detailed analysis of evolving local content mandates, regional flaring/methane penalty structures, and best practices for incorporating operational metrics into international ESG reporting frameworks
This synergistic suite of services translates the complex challenges of decarbonization into actionable strategic and commercial insights for the Caribbean energy sector.
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