Aug 23 (Reuters) - APA Corp, the parent company of oil and gas producer Apache, said on Tuesday it had discovered oil offshore Suriname at Baja-1 in Block 53 and abandoned the Dikkop well in Block 58 after striking water-bearing sandstones there.

Exploration off the South American country is being watched closely as it is just over the border from massive oil discoveries by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium in Guyana, which is estimated to hold nearly 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

"Our success at Baja marks the 6th oil discovery we have participated in offshore Suriname, and the first on Block 53," APA Chief Executive John Christmann said in a statement, adding the discovery helps to de-risk prospects in the southern part of both Block 53 and 58.

APA in June had reported disappointing results from Block 53's Rasper well.

The company is the operator of Block 53, with a 45% stake in it. Malaysia's state-run Petronas owns 30% and Spain's CEPSA holds the rest. (Reporting by Arunima Kumar and Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)