VAALCO Energy, Inc. (锟絍aalco锟� or the 锟紺ompany锟�) provided an operational update on its Phase Three Drilling Program offshore Gabon. Vaalco has completed drilling the Etame West ET-14P exploration well. While the well encountered 10 meters of high-quality Gamba sands, in line with pre-drill predictions, the target zone was water-bearing. The lower portion of the well will be plugged and abandoned but the well bore will be utilized and sidetracked in the upper portion of the well to drill the ET-14H development well in the Main Fault Block of Etame, pending partner approval. Operations are expected to be completed in April.
George Maxwell, Vaalco锟絪 Chief Executive Officer, commented, 锟絎hen we committed to drilling the Etame West exploration well, we knew there was the geologic risk of not encountering commercial sands but the size of the potential reservoir made it a risk worth taking. Furthermore, we purposely designed the well so we could still utilize the well bore to drill a development well into a known productive area if the sands were non-commercial. This side-tracked well should be completed in April.锟�