Vaalco Energy Inc. has acquired nearly 1,000 sq km of new dual-azimuth proprietary 3-D seismic data over the entire Etame Marin block, offshore Gabon, to support the next drilling campaign scheduled for late 2021 or early 2022.
Subsurface imaging will be enhanced by combining the newly acquired seismic with legacy data to produce the first continuous 3-D seismic over the entire block, the company said Dec. 7. The data will be used to optimize and derisk future drilling locations and potentially identify new drilling locations.
Processing of the data is expected to begin in January 2021 with all data expected to be fully processed and analyzed by fourth-quarter 2021.
Total cost for both acquisition and processing will be $14-16 million gross.
Vaalco is operator of Etame with 33.6% interest (31.1% working interest). In November, Vaalco agreed to acquire Sasol Gabon SA’s 27.8% working interest in the block (OGJ Online, Nov. 18, 2020). At closing, the deal will bring Vaalco’s total working interest to 58.8%.
