PARAMARIBO (Reuters) -France's TotalEnergies and U.S. APA Corp on Tuesday announced a positive investment decision for Suriname's most promising oil and gas project, Block 58, which is expected to inaugurate the nation's offshore output.

The small South American country wants to follow in the footsteps of neighboring Guyana, where a consortium led by Exxon Mobil in 2019 began developing more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas resources, turning the country into a prominent producer.

Total has said the investment decision for the $10 billion project would be made in the fourth quarter, aiming to begin output in the first half of 2028. Reuters on Monday disclosed the financial greenlight.

A Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility being built in Asia for the project is expected to be one of the company's largest, CEO Patrick Pouyanne added.

TotalEnergies and APA plan to develop the Sapakara and Krabdagu fields, renamed as "Gran Morgu", with combined recoverable resources estimated above 700 million barrels.

The announcement was made at Suriname's presidential cabinet in presence of President Chan Santokhi, Pouyanne and APA's CEO John Christmann.