Vaalco Energy 已进入科特迪瓦近海 CI-705 区块。Vaalco 将通过商业承包协议成为该区块的运营商，拥有 70% 的开采权益和 100% 的支付权益，并与科特迪瓦勘探石油和天然气公司 (Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS) 和 PETROCI 合作。

CI-705 区块位于储量丰富的塔诺盆地，位于 Vaalco CI-40 区块以西约 70 公里处，Baobab 和 Kossipo 油田就位于该区块，位于埃尼公司最近发现的 Calao 以西 60 公里处。CI-705 区块面积约为 2,300 平方公里，勘探程度不高，迄今为止已在该区块钻探了三口井。整个区块的水深从零到 2,500 米不等。Vaalco 已投资 300 万美元收购其认为具有重大勘探前景的新区块的权益。

Vaalco 首席执行官乔治·马克斯韦尔 (George Maxwell) 表示：“根据收购协议，我们将以 70% 的工作权益和 100% 的付费权益运营该区块，同时以商业条款带领合作伙伴完成地震再处理和解释阶段，并可能钻探最多两口勘探井。”“我们初步评估认为该区块既有石油又有天然气前景，我们计划进行详细的综合地质分析，以评估和完善我们对该区块整体勘探前景的理解。”

Vaalco Energy has farmed into the CI-705 block offshore Côte d’Ivoire. Vaalco will become operator of the block with a 70% working interest and a 100% paying interest though a commercial carry arrangement and is partnering with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI.

The CI-705 block is located in the prolific Tano basin and is approximately 70 km to the west of Vaalco’s CI-40 Block, where the Baobab and Kossipo oil fields are located, and 60 km west of Eni’s recent Calao discovery. Block CI-705 covers approximately 2,300 sq km and is lightly explored with three wells drilled to date on the block. The water depth across the block ranges from zero to 2,500 m. Vaalco has invested $3 million to acquire its interest in the new block which it believes has significant prospectivity.

“Under the terms of the farm-in, we will operate the block with a 70% working interest and a 100% paying interest as we carry our partners at commercial terms through the seismic reprocessing and interpretation stages and potentially drilling up to two exploration wells,” said George Maxwell, Vaalco’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our initial assessment is that there are both oil and natural gas prospects on the block and we plan to conduct a detailed, integrated geological analysis to assess and mature our understanding of the block’s overall prospectivity.”