Vaalco Energy increases overall production, reserves offshore Gabon

Vaalco Energy Inc., Houston, has increased production in the Etame Marin permit area offshore Gabon with the recently drilled Etame 9H and Etame 11H development wells and two wells brought back online following a subsea repair on Etame 4H appraisal well and a workover on Etame 10H (OGJ Online, Oct. 21, 2019).

The South East Etame 4P appraisal well was drilled to a total depth of 6,311 ft from the Vaalco-operated South East Etame North Tchibala (SEENT) platform and encountered 20 ft of good-quality Gamba formation oil sands with similar reservoir quality found in South East Etame 2H.

Vaalco plans to drill South East Etame 4H, a third development well, which will target 1-2 million bbl of gross prospective resources, down from the initial predrill estimate of 4.2 million bbl which was based on an anticipated thicker oil column than was encountered. Initial gross expected production rates are 1,200-2,500 b/d. Following completion of the well, the drilling rig will perform additional workovers to preemptively replace electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) that are operating near the end of their design life.

Vaalco is operator of Etame with 33.6% interest (31.1% working interest). Partners are Addax (Sinopec) 33.9%, Sasol 30%, and PetroEnergy 2.5%. Tullow is a 7.7% working interest owner but not a joint interest owner.