VAALCO Energy has announced that the acquisition of three dimensional (“3-D”) seismic data at the Etame Marin block offshore Gabon has been completed.

The company in the press release, said it has also Completed the acquisition of nearly 1,000 square kilometers of new dual-azimuth proprietary 3-D seismic data over the entire Etame Marin block which will be used to optimize and de-risk future drilling locations and potentially identify new drilling locations; This is to enhance sub-surface imaging by merging legacy data with newly acquired seismic allowing for the first continuous 3-D seismic over the entire block.

VAALCO has Estimated the total costs of both the acquisition and processing of seismic data to be approximately $14 to $16 million gross over the period from Q4 2020 through Q4 2021 and expects to fully fund its portion with cash on hand and cash from operations. The Processing of the seismic data is expected to begin in January 2021 with all data to be fully processed and analyzed by Q4 2021; and while the Planning for the commencement of the next drilling campaign at Etame in late 2021 or early 2022.

Cary Bounds, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of our new proprietary 3-D seismic survey over our entire Etame Marin Block. We will now proceed with the processing and analysis of the data that has been collected. Over the past 20 years, we have capitalized on the significant resource potential at Etame by increasing the ultimate recovery from the initial estimate of 30 million gross barrels of oil to 147 million gross barrels of oil on a 2P basis.

Looking ahead, our new 3-D seismic survey is a vital tool in helping us unlock the remaining 116 million gross barrels of oil reserves and resources identified on the license. The new seismic data will help us to optimize every location that we plan to drill and potentially identify new locations to add to our drillable inventory. Additionally, our recent announcement of the acquisition of Sasol’s interest at Etame combined with the new 3-D seismic survey underscores our confidence in the long-term potential at Etame.”

VAALCO is a Houston; USA based independent energy company with production, development and exploration assets in the West African region. The Company is an established operator within the region, holding a 33.6% participating interest in the Etame Marin block, located offshore Gabon, which to date has produced over 118 million barrels of crude oil and of which the Company is the operator.