Oil and gas law in Suriname: contracts, tax and oversight

All oil and gas in Suriname belongs to the state. The rights to explore and produce are held by the state company Staatsolie, which brings in international oil companies through a production sharing contract (PSC). The rules are in the Petroleum Act 1990, amended in 2001 and 2022. There is no separate Local Content Act yet: the government plans to submit one to the National Assembly in 2027. Below: who does what, how the oil is shared, which tax and customs facilities apply and what you need to arrange as a supplier.

On this page (12)

• Who does what
• The laws at a glance
• How the rights work
• The production sharing contract: how the oil is shared
• Tax, customs and foreign exchange for contractors
• What applies to you as a subcontractor or supplier
• Environment and safety
• Local content: what the law already says
• Where the money goes: the SSFS and transparency
• What to watch next
• Sources
• Frequently asked questions

Who does what

Body	Role	You deal with it when
Ministry of Oil, Gas and Environment (OGM)	National oil and gas policy, legislation, the national petroleum database, the National Oil Spill Response Plan, advice on PSCs, local content policy, support to the NMA. Created in July 2025, tasks set in S.B. 2025 no. 124.	you want to know which rules are coming or you respond to policy
Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V.	Holder of all hydrocarbon rights, signs and polices the PSCs, approves development plans, may take up to 20% in a field, runs the supplier portal	you supply an operator or Staatsolie itself
National Environmental Authority (NMA)	Reviews environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) under the Environmental Framework Act and advises the permitting authority	your work needs an ESIA or environmental management plan
Maritime Authority Suriname (MAS)	Shipping safety, port security, oversight of vessels in Surinamese waters, notification point for oil spills	you work with vessels, ports or offshore logistics
Ministry of Finance and Planning, Tax Administration and Customs	Income tax, VAT, wage tax, import duty and the Petroleum Act exemptions; management of oil revenue in the SSFS	you import goods, invoice or employ staff
Ministry of Labour (VWA) and Immigration	Work permits for foreign specialists	you bring in foreign staff
Local Content Board	Writes the preliminary draft of the Local Content Act and advises on a Local Content Authority	you want a say in how a "Surinamese company" is defined
EITI Suriname	Publishes what oil and mining companies pay the state	you want to follow the money in the sector

The laws at a glance

Instrument	What it covers	Status October 2026
Mining Decree (E-58, S.B. 1986 no. 28)	Minerals belong to the state; general rules on rights, inspection and surface rent	In force; for oil and gas the Petroleum Act takes precedence
Petroleum Act 1990 (S.B. 1991 no. 7)	Petroleum agreements, taxes and foreign exchange, local content (art. 17), office requirement (art. 19)	In force
Petroleum Act amendment (S.B. 2001 no. 58)	Subcontractors get the same rights and duties as the contractor (art. 27a), fiscal stabilisation (art. 9(8))	In force
State decree on contractor guarantees (S.B. 2018 no. 52)	State guarantee to contractors, including stabilisation of their tax position	In force; given a statutory basis in 2022
Petroleum Act amendment (S.B. 2022 no. 152)	Exemption from turnover tax, dividend tax and stamp duty for contractors and contractor parties (art. 9(9))	In force since 31 December 2022
Environmental Framework Act (S.B. 2020 no. 97, amended by S.B. 2024 no. 56)	Environmental policy, the NMA, impact assessment	In force; a further amendment is before parliament
Environmental Impact Assessment Decree (S.B. 2025 no. 23)	Which projects need which assessment (category A, B, C)	In force since February 2025
Ministries Tasks Decree 2025 (S.B. 2025 no. 124)	Tasks of the Ministry of Oil, Gas and Environment	In force, retroactive to 16 July 2025
Savings and Stabilisation Fund Act (S.B. 2017 no. 59)	Fund for natural resource revenue	Amended in 2024; a new amendment announced, fund not yet operational
Local Content-HSEQ bill (private member's bill)	Supervision of local content and of health, safety, environment and quality in the resource sector	Submitted to parliament on 4 February 2025, not taken up
Local Content Act (government)	Definition of a local company, obligations for operators, a Local Content Authority	Preliminary draft ready; submission to parliament planned for 2027

How the rights work

The Mining Decree makes all minerals in the ground and in the exclusive economic zone the property of the state. For oil and gas the Petroleum Act provides that rights only go to a state company: a company controlled by the state whose main business is oil and gas. That is Staatsolie, founded in 1980. Staatsolie can produce itself (as it does onshore in Saramacca) or sign a petroleum agreement with a foreign company. Every agreement needs the minister's approval, and the minister only approves with the consent of the government (art. 5).

What each agreement must cover by law:

• Blocks. Contract areas are defined as far as possible as numbered blocks on a state reference map (art. 20). Parts of the area must be relinquished periodically (art. 21).
• Development plan. Each field gets a development plan that Staatsolie approves before work starts (art. 23). If a field crosses two contract areas, it is developed as one unit (art. 24).
• Gas. Associated gas may be used for production itself. If recoverable gas is found, Staatsolie and the contractor must agree a supplementary contract; if they fail within the agreed time, the contractor loses that gas (art. 25).
• Domestic needs. Each agreement settles how domestic demand for petroleum is served (art. 26). Otherwise the contractor may export its oil (art. 27).
• Audit and confidentiality. Staatsolie's auditors may inspect the contractor's books and work at any time (art. 14). Technical, financial and economic data are confidential (art. 12). That is why the contracts themselves are usually not public.
• Transfer. A contractor may only transfer its rights as the agreement allows (art. 16). Deals with affiliated companies must be at market prices (art. 18).

New blocks are awarded in bid rounds or, since November 2025, through Staatsolie's rolling Open Door process, in which a company can propose an area itself. Which blocks are held by whom: Oil blocks and concessions.

The production sharing contract: how the oil is shared

Suriname does not use concessions in which a company owns everything and pays tax, but a production sharing contract (PSC). The contractor bears the risk and cost of exploration. If it finds nothing, it gets nothing back. If it finds oil, production is shared in steps. Staatsolie published the fixed terms for its Demerara Bid Round 2022-2023, which follow the model PSC. This is how the split works:

1. Royalty: 6.25% of gross offshore production goes to the state side first, regardless of cost or profit.
2. Cost oil: at most 80% of what remains after royalty may be used by the contractor each calendar year to recover its exploration, development and production costs. Anything that does not fit is carried forward to the next year.
3. Profit oil: the rest is split between Staatsolie and the contractor according to the R-factor: the ratio between what the contractor has received so far and what it has spent. The more profitable the field, the larger Staatsolie's share.
4. Income tax: 36% on the contractor's profit, fixed for the whole term of the contract.
5. Staatsolie participation: during exploration Staatsolie is "carried" (the partners pay); after that Staatsolie may take up to 20% in each commercial field and then also pays 20% of the costs.

R-factor	Staatsolie share	Contractor share
0 - 1.25	20%	80%
1.25 - 1.50	25%	75%
1.50 - 1.75	30%	70%
1,75 - 2	40%	60%
2 - 3	50%	50%
> 3	70%	30%

Profit oil split under article 14.7 of the model PSC, Demerara Bid Round 2022-2023 (Staatsolie).

Note: these are standard terms, not GranMorgu's. The Block 58 PSC was signed in June 2015 with Apache (now APA, partner of operator TotalEnergies). Its exact terms are confidential. Older contracts differ: Kosmos's published PSC for Block 42 (2011) gave Staatsolie a participation right of at most 10% and a different split. For 2014 Staatsolie said no signature bonus was payable; in the Demerara round a bidder could offer one for extra points.

Ring-fencing. In July 2026 two tax lawyers argued in the press about whether costs from one block may be deducted from the profit of another. One holds that only the contract limits this and that there is no statutory fiscal ring fence; the other points to article 19 of the Petroleum Act (a separately registered office for each agreement) and article 19.2.1 of the model PSC, under which costs only count for the block they belong to. The Tax Administration has not published a position on this.

Tax, customs and foreign exchange for contractors

The starting point of article 9: contractors pay all ordinary taxes and charges that do not discriminate. These exceptions apply:

• Import duty: exemption for capital goods, materials and equipment used in petroleum operations. Condition: goods not owned by Staatsolie become Staatsolie's property at the end or leave the country again (para. 3). Used household goods of foreign staff can be imported duty free within six months of arrival (para. 4).
• Statistical and consent fees: payable, but capped per calendar year by state decree (para. 6). According to the explanatory memorandum to the 2022 amendment, the cap is USD 300,000 a year.
• Export: no export levy, stamp duty or other charge on oil exports beyond the statistical and consent fees (para. 7).
• Fiscal stabilisation: the contractor pays income tax at the rates in force on the day its agreement took effect; later rate changes do not apply to it (para. 8). This does not apply to subcontractors.
• Turnover tax, dividends and stamp duty: since the December 2022 amendment, contractors and contractor parties are exempt from turnover tax on goods and services for oil and gas work, from dividend tax on payments to non-Surinamese shareholders and from stamp duty on the sale of interests (para. 9). The Act still refers to the 1997 Turnover Tax Act; Suriname has had VAT since 2023. Ask the Tax Administration how the exemption works under VAT in your case.

Foreign exchange (art. 10). Contractors may buy goods and services in and outside Suriname and pay abroad in foreign currency, sell oil in foreign currency and keep the proceeds in foreign accounts, and remit profits and loan repayments abroad. They pay taxes in foreign currency approved by the government.

What applies to you as a subcontractor or supplier

The law draws an important line. A subcontractor in the sense of the Petroleum Act provides services that are "characteristic of petroleum operations" under international practice (art. 1). Such a company gets all the rights, duties and exemptions of the contractor except fiscal stabilisation (art. 27a). The explanatory memorandum to the 2022 amendment spells out who qualifies: companies that shoot seismic, build drilling platforms or lay pipelines do; security, cleaning and other "non-typical" services do not. Those pay VAT, import duty and other taxes as normal.

According to the same memorandum, subcontractors also have to keep an office in Paramaribo and register it, with all the tax obligations that come with it. The local content duties of article 17 run down the whole chain. In practice operators and main contractors also set their own safety, quality and integrity requirements; see Become an oil and gas supplier.

• Company registered with the KKF, with a Surinamese address and representative
• Registered with the Tax Administration (FIN number, VAT if above the threshold, wage tax for staff)
• Written confirmation of whether your work is "characteristic of petroleum operations" before you count on any exemption
• For imports: exemption request through the contractor or Staatsolie and a plan for re-export or transfer
• Work permits for foreign specialists, with a justification of why no Surinamese can fill the job
• HSE policy, insurance and the certificates the tender asks for
• Integrity policy and customer due diligence: the sector falls under anti-money laundering rules and Suriname faces an international assessment in 2027
• An environmental plan or ESIA if your work requires one (see below)
• Proof of local content: owners, Surinamese staff, local purchasing and training, recorded each year

More: Work and residence permits · Business taxes · Importing goods · Anti-money laundering rules

Environment and safety

The Environmental Framework Act of 2020 is the basis for environmental policy and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). The former NIMOS has been called the National Environmental Authority (NMA) since the 2024 amendment. The ESIA Decree of February 2025 sorts projects as follows:

Activity	Category
Offshore oil and gas drilling	A: full ESIA
Oil and gas production on land, at sea and in other waters	A: full ESIA
Oil and gas pipelines	A (other pipelines and maintenance: B)
Oil refineries, new or extended	A
Seismic surveys (land, sea, other waters), onshore drilling	B: the NMA decides how detailed
Storage of flammable substances	B

In category B the NMA decides whether you only supply information (track 1), do a limited assessment such as an environmental or waste management plan (track 2) or a full ESIA (track 3). The NMA can hire independent experts at the applicant's cost. The public gets 30 to 90 days to comment, and where indigenous and tribal peoples are affected, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) applies.

Oil spills. The Ministry of OGM is tasked with developing and managing a National Oil Spill Response Plan, together with the National Coordination Centre for Disaster Management (NCCR). MAS is the notification point for oil spills at sea. If you work in ports, on vessels or in waste handling, ask your client what your role is in their emergency plan.

See also Environmental rules for business.

Local content: what the law already says

There is no Local Content Act, but the rules already say more than is often assumed:

• Article 17 of the Petroleum Act. A contractor only hires foreign staff for jobs for which no experienced and qualified Surinamese are available, and does everything it can to help Surinamese build skills and take responsible positions. On equal or better terms, goods and services from Suriname take precedence over foreign ones.
• Article 6. When signing contracts Staatsolie must promote technology transfer and the training of Surinamese experts.
• The PSCs themselves. Contracts contain preference for Surinamese goods and services and reporting duties. In the published Block 42 PSC (2011) the operator had to report local purchasing every quarter and contribute USD 100,000 a year to training during exploration, USD 400,000 after that.
• The Ministry of OGM has, since 2025, a statutory task to develop a sustainable local content policy for entrepreneurship, employment and capacity building.

What is coming. The Local Content Board has written a preliminary draft law. After a national validation session it is to be developed further, and the government plans to submit it in 2027 so that the framework is in place before first oil in 2028. The law must fit the Investment Act, the Procurement Act and the Economic Zones Act. In her annual address of September 2026, President Simons set two principles: the position of Surinamese workers at international companies must be secured, and Surinamese experts must not be passed over. The Board also advises on a Local Content Authority. Separately, the Local Content-HSEQ private member's bill has been before parliament since 4 February 2025. How to prepare as a company: Become an oil and gas supplier.

Where the money goes: the SSFS and transparency

The Savings and Stabilisation Fund Act (S.B. 2017 no. 59) sets up a fund for natural resource revenue, mainly oil and gas. In 2024 the law was amended for the Value Recovery Instrument (VRI) from the 2023 debt restructuring: holders of the old bonds were to receive 30% of Block 58 royalties. In November 2025 the government bought out the VRI with new bonds, so 100% of future royalties go to the state and the SSFS. That is why the law has to be amended again. According to President Simons the fund must be fully operational before the first deposit. What it means for business: Oil money and business.

EITI. Suriname takes part in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The 2023-2024 report came out in January 2026 and shows what oil and mining companies paid the state. The PSCs themselves remain confidential (art. 12 Petroleum Act).

What to watch next

• Local Content Act: validation of the preliminary draft and submission to parliament in 2027.
• SSFS Act amendment: after the VRI buyout, before the first oil revenue.
• New investment legislation: the government aims to finish it in 2027.
• General Customs Act 2026: the bill is before parliament and affects imports for all businesses.
• Anti-money laundering assessment 2027: stricter due diligence demands on banks and businesses.
• Open Door proposals and new PSCs: every new contract brings a new operator with its own purchasing.

All laws in preparation: New laws and rules. Terms such as FPSO, R-factor and cost oil: Oil and gas glossary.

Sources

• Petroleum Act 1990 (S.B. 1991 no. 7), text as amended by S.B. 2001 no. 58 (Staatsolie)
• S.B. 2022 no. 152: Petroleum Act amendment, with explanatory memorandum (DNA)
• Staatsolie: Instructions to Bidders, Demerara Bid Round 2022-2023 (royalty, tax, cost oil, profit oil)
• ResourceContracts: Kosmos Energy PSC, Block 42 (2011)
• Lexology: 2014 bid round terms
• Suriname Herald: Staatsolie and Apache sign PSC for Block 58 (24 June 2015)
• Starnieuws: debate on fiscal ring-fencing (July 2026)
• S.B. 2025 no. 124: Ministries Tasks Decree 2025 (art. 22, OGM)
• S.B. 2025 no. 23: Environmental Impact Assessment Decree
• S.B. 2024 no. 56: Environmental Framework Act amendment (NIMOS becomes NMA)
• NCEA: Suriname ESIA legislation at project level
• Nationale Milieu Autoriteit (NMA)
• Maritieme Autoriteit Suriname (MAS)
• ITOPF: Suriname country profile (oil spills)
• Starnieuws: Local Content Act to go to parliament in 2027 (30 September 2026)
• DNA: Local Content-HSEQ bill (4 February 2025)
• DNA: bills under consideration (Environmental Framework Act, General Customs Act 2026)
• gov.sr: government aims to make the SSFS operational soon (30 September 2026)
• gov.sr: refinancing and VRI buyout (November 2025)
• Suriname Herald: AML assessment and investment legislation in 2027 (17 October 2026)
• EITI Suriname: report 2023-2024 (January 2026)

Checked on 26 October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice. Have a tax adviser or lawyer review your own situation before you rely on an exemption.