June 5 (Reuters) -

TotalEnergies and APA Corp ( APA ) will make a

final investment decision on Suriname's most promising oil and

gas project in the fourth quarter, aiming to begin output in

2028, the French energy company said on Wednesday.

Its $9 billion project is closely watched as it will be

Suriname's first commercial offshore development. Block 58 also

lies adjacent to Exxon Mobil's ( XOM ) massive Stabroek block in

Guyana, where more than 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil

and gas have been found.

"Engineering studies are progressing for the development

of the Sapakara and Krabdagu fields, with combined recoverable

resources estimated above 700 million barrels," TotalEnergies

said in a release from Paramaribo, where state company

Staatsolie this week is hosting an oil and gas summit.

A first ocean-bottom seismic campaign covering 900

square kilometers that will guide location of development wells

will be carried out in second half of this year, the company

added.

Staatsolie and TotalEnergies recently reached an

agreement on the field development area to be covered in a

25-year production contract. The hull for a 200,000

barrel-per-day Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO)

unit also was recently secured.

Current oil output in Suriname is solely focused

onshore, but nine deepwater fields have been discovered in the

country's waters since 2019. Energy consultants Wood Mackenzie

estimates Suriname's discovered resources at more than 2.4

billion barrels of oil and liquids and more than 12.5 trillion

cubic feet of gas.

TotalEnergies operates Block 58 with a 50% interest, and

U.S. producer APA holds the remaining 50%. Staatsolie has the

option to enter the project with up to 20% interest upon the

final investment decision (FID).

"We are glad to progress together with Staatsolie and

APA towards the FID of Block 58, which will be the next

milestone in the partnership," said Javier Rielo, Total

Energies' senior vice president of exploration & production for

Americas.

In May, Petronas announced its third

hydrocarbon discovery at neighboring Block 52 in Suriname. The

Malaysian company is now appraising a previous discovery in that

area.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Gdansk Newsroom)