U.S. exploration firm Vaalco Energy announced on Monday the acquisition of 3-D seismic survey data for the entire Etame Marin block offshore Gabon. The data will improve and update the current seismic record, some of which dates back to the discovery of the field in the 1990s.
Initiated last October, the seismic program was conducted over nearly 1,000 km2, and will be used to optimize and reduce the risk of future drilling locations and potentially identify new drilling locations. Similarly, it will help improve below-surface imagery, merging legacy data with newly acquired seismic, thus enabling the acquisition of the first continuous 3-D seismic across the block.
“We are very pleased to have finalized the acquisition of our new exclusive 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,” said Cary Bounds, CEO of Vaalco Energy. “Over the past 20 years, we have capitalized on the great potential of Etame’s resources, increasing the final recovery from the initial estimate of 30 million crude barrels of oil to 147 million crude barrels.”
The company aims to start processing the data in January 2021, so that all data is fully processed and analyzed by the fourth quarter of 2021, for a total net acquisition and processing cost estimated around four to five million dollars.
“Going forward, our new 3-D seismic survey is an essential tool in helping us unlock the remaining 116 million gross barrels of oil reserves and resources identified on the permit. The new seismic data will help us optimize each location we plan to drill and potentially identify new locations to add to our inventory,” added Bounds.
Vaalco Energy is a Houston-based independent oil company operating in Gabon and holding a 33.6% stake in the offshore Etame Marin block, which to date has produced more than 118 million barrels of crude oil.
