Suriname’s president, Jennifer Simons, says her government wants to stop the coming oil industry from pushing up prices and leaving ordinary citizens behind. She set out the plan in a Surinamese broadcast interview on Saturday, 7 November 2026, ahead of the country’s first offshore oil, due in 2028.
Suriname is planning for an oil boom before it arrives, with funds for the money and a push on food and jobs for the people.
A building of the National Assembly complex in Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital, where the oil-fund law is due to arrive in 2027.What Simons Said About Prices
Simons said foreign companies and foreign workers with higher purchasing power can push up prices once oil and gas activity starts. She said the sector must not leave ordinary citizens behind.
To soften the effect, her government wants to raise domestic food production so farmers can prevent shortages and sharp price rises. The government is also trying to speed up existing projects without taking on new loans, she said.
Three Funds for Oil Money
The government is preparing three funds, each anchored in law, to manage future oil income: a savings and stabilisation fund, an investment fund and a social fund. The savings and stabilisation fund, set up in 2017, is to get a new legal basis.
Simons said an obligation tied to the Value Recovery Instrument, an oil-linked arrangement from Suriname’s debt restructuring, has been lifted. The government aims to submit the fund law change to the National Assembly in the second half of 2027.
Jobs, Migration and Health Care
Few local applicants currently meet the requirements for oil-sector jobs, Simons said. She wants foreign companies to train Surinamese workers.
Clear rules on foreign labour and residence rights are still needed, she said. The National Development Platform, a government body, is consulting social groups on a long-term development plan called the Roadmap 2029 to 2050.
On health care, a renewed health system is planned for 2027, with residents and non-Surinamese contributing according to their means. Future oil income is meant to help finance it.
The Oil Behind the Plan
Annand Jagesar, head of Staatsolie, Suriname’s state oil company, has said that first oil from GranMorgu, the offshore project run by French oil major TotalEnergies, remains on track for mid-2028. The project, built around a floating production vessel with a capacity of 220,000 barrels a day, was approved in 2024 at an investment of about US$10.5 billion, a figure since reported nearer US$12 billion.