The Surinamese state-owned company Staatsolie has been producing inland oil for local consumption since 1982, but in 2020, international oil company TotalEnergies discovered oil offshore and is expected to start oil production in 2028. The company has repeatedly postponed the Final Investment Decision (FID), and oil contracts and bidding processes have been largely secretive, creating economic and political tension. 

Suriname is not only grappling with a debt crisis but was financially downgraded by the rating bureaus, has a high poverty rate and has  seen its pristine amazonic forest being impacted by illegal gold mining logging for export and extreme drought caused by climate change. Now offshore oil also threatens marine ecosystems, the mangrove coastal protection and fisheries.