VAALCO Energy has announced that it has commenced its 2021/2022 drilling campaign offshore Gabon with the Etame 8H-ST well.

Under a drilling contract announced by VAALCO in early summer, a jack-up rig provided by Borr West Africa Assets Inc., an affiliate of Borr Drilling Limited was recently deployed to the Etame platform and has commenced activities on the Etame 8H-ST development well which is expected to be completed in January with production expected later in the first quarter of 2022. This sidetrack of an existing well is targeting existing Gamba hydrocarbons in the Etame field that have not previously been produced by prior wells, and is the first well of a four-well campaign.

George Maxwell, VAALCO’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Enhancing our production, reducing our costs and extending the economic life at Etame has been the driving force for VAALCO’s continued success. This summer we secured a jack-up rig for our 2021/2022 drilling campaign and began drilling our first well, the Etame 8H-ST, this week. We believe that executing another successful drilling campaign with the goal of adding material production and reserves will significantly improve our size and scale, further enhancing our ability to execute on our accretive future growth initiatives.

The objective of the drilling campaign is to increase production by 7,000 to 8,000 barrels of oil per day gross, which would have a material impact on VAALCO’s net production and cashflow given it’s 63.6% interest in the licence. We are confident we can achieve these objectives given our drilling track record at Etame. We are excited to get our next drilling campaign underway and will continue to provide updates throughout the program.”

VAALCO, founded in 1985, 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 63.6% participating interest in the Etame Marin block, located offshore Gabon, which to date has produced over 123 million barrels of crude oil and of which the Company is the operator.