General Interest

Vaalco acquires majority interest in Côte D’Ivoire block, becomes operator

March 3, 2025

Vaalco will operate the block, carrying partners through the seismic reprocessing and interpretation stages and potentially drilling two exploration wells.

Vaalco Cote D'Ivoire — Vaalco Energy acquires 70% interest in, becomes operator of Côte D’Ivoire CI-705 block.

Vaalco Energy Inc., Houston, has farmed into the CI-705 block offshore Côte d’Ivoire through an agreement with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS (ICE). Vaalco will become operator of the block. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vaalco will operate the West African block with a 70% working interest and a 100% paying interest, carrying partners at commercial terms through the seismic reprocessing and interpretation stages and potentially drilling up to two exploration wells, said George Maxwell, Vallco’s chief executive officer, in a release Mar. 3.

According to ICE, it also will receive an unspecified cash payment at completion predominantly relating to certain historical costs incurred on the block.

“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,” Vaalco’s Maxwell said.

The 2,300 sq km CI-705 block lies in the Tano basin about 70 km west of Vaalco’s CI-40 Block, which holds Baobab and Kossipo oil fields, and 60 km west of ENI’s recent Calao discovery (OGJ Online, Aug. 19, 2005; Mar. 8, 2024).

Block CI-705 is lightly explored with three wells drilled to date. Water depth across the block is 0-2,500 m. Block partners are Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI.