News
Large oil reserve discovered off the coast of Suriname
Sherrica Thompson
Staff Writer
#Suriname, August 26, 2022 – Oil miners have discovered another large oil reserve off the coast of Suriname in Block 53. The announcement was made by the American oil company, APA Corporation (APA) and Suriname’s Staatsolie on Tuesday.
The oil was found in the Baja-1 well, which was drilled to a depth of 5,290 meters and encountered 34 meters of net oil payment. Since January 2020, five successful discoveries were made in Block 58.
Preliminary analyses indicate light oil with a gas-to-oil ratio of 1600 to 2200 standard cubic feet per barrel in a good quality reservoir. The discovery at Baja-1 is from the same deposition system as the Krabdagu discovery, 11.5 kilometres to the west at Block 58.
President and Chief Executive Officer of APA, John J. Christmann, commented on the oil discovery. 
“Our success at Baja marks the 6th oil discovery we have participated in offshore Suriname and the first on Block 53,” said Christmann.
He also noted that; “This result confirms our geologic model for the Campanian in the area and helps to de-risk other prospects in the southern portion of both Blocks 53 and 58.”
APA said it recently received regulatory approval regarding an amendment to the Block 53 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Staatsolie, which provides options to extend the exploration period of the PSC by up to four years.
The company is currently progressing through the formalization of the election of the first one-year extension, for which all work commitments are complete.
In a statement about the latest oil discovery, the President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, said, “Suriname is another step closer to commercial exploitation.”
He added that the results as presented “make us stand with both feet on the ground at the same time, while the dot on the horizon takes on more and more solid shapes”.
The authorities said the results from Block 58 point to the complexity and dynamics of the industry. They also noted that the results showed a water reservoir in this block. This gives a good indication of the enormous potential that Suriname has as a player in the field of oil and gas.
The government is awaiting further information from the oil companies. In the meantime, intensive discussions are being held between Staatsolie and the foreign companies about the first development in the sea area to arrive at the ‘so-called’ final investment decision.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
Company delivers fastest speeds nationwide and boosts service reliability
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS, APRIL 19th, 2024 – More connections, faster speeds and greater support for customers. This is the promise from communications and entertainment provider, Flow TCI, as it embarks on an initiative to provide households with enhanced connections, greater overall reliability and now, for the first time, speeds up to one gigabit person second.
FLOW TCI Country Manager, Joanne Missick shared: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen to our customers and want to exceed their demands, so we are focused on delivering unmatched value with customer centric products and services that are future proof. Flow subscribers on our Fibre Extreme package can now access up to one gigabyte speeds and subscribers on our Fibre Plus and Fibre Max package, as of April 1st, are also now benefitting from up to 5x more speeds.”
This is third speed boost for Flow customers in the last two years. This comes under the umbrella of the the Company’s recently launched “Working for You” campaign, where technicians are going into the neighborhoods across the island to conduct repairs, decommission copper cables, and increase the brand’s visibility in local communities.
“To date several neighborhoods have been served by technicians and the company will continue to go across the islands to ensure each neighborhood receives personal attention. We recognize that over the past few months some customers have experienced issues with the quality and delivery of our services. This is not what we stand for. Flow remains committed to providing technology and innovation
that enables growth and positively impacts lives”, says, newly appointed Head of Technical Operations, Simeon Thomas.
Thomas adds, “We have been closely monitoring and reviewing every aspect of our network and there is room for improvement across each of the islands. Where we find shortcomings, we are taking concrete actions and assigning our technicians to rapidly make all necessary adjustments and improvements for our customers”.
Flow has made significant investments in expanding and modernizing its infrastructure and delivering a more robust and reliable network paving the way for the country’s digital transformation.
For more information on speed increases visit https://www2.discoverflow.co/turks-and-caicos/price-adjustment-speed-increase on our website.
Thank you for your usual assistance in sharing our stories.
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