VAALCO Energy has announced the completion of the acquisition of nearly 1,000 square kilometres of new dual-azimuth proprietary 3-D seismic data over the entire Etame Marin block offshore Gabon, which will be used to optimise and de-risk future drilling locations and identify new drilling locations.

The processing of the seismic data is to begin in January 2021, with all data to be fully processed and analysed by the fourth-quarter of 2021. The acquisition and processing of data is between $14 to $16 million gross over the period from Q4 2020 through Q4 2021.

The Chief Executive Officer of VAALCO, Cary Bounds said, “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 underscore our confidence in the long-term potential at Etame.”