PARAMARIBO, July 5 (Reuters) - Petronas will begin

drilling on Sunday, the first of three wells in an exploration

campaign aimed at finding additional oil reserves at its

offshore Block 52 in Suriname, state company Staatsolie said in

a release on Saturday.

Petronas hired Noble Corp ( NBLWF ) to drill the wells through

the Noble Developer drilling platform, which arrived in

Surinamese waters at the beginning of July. Suriname's National

Environmental Authority granted a permit for the drilling

program in mid-June, Staatsolie said.