VAALCO Reports ETBNM-3 Well Results, Spuds Next Gabon Well

VAALCO Energy said its ETBNM-3 well in offshore Gabon has returned results, and the next well in the drilling program, ETSEM-3PH, has been spudded, meaning drilling has started. The Houston-based independent released the operational update Aug. 5. It confirmed the ETBNM-3 result without disclosing any numbers.

Both wells sit on the Etame Marin block, the operated offshore license at the center of VAALCO's West African portfolio. Etame has produced oil for more than two decades. The current campaign targets additional volumes from the existing complex, and the release offered no detail on the new wells beyond the well names.

Gabon is the historic core of the company's production. VAALCO, founded in 1985 and incorporated in Delaware, holds production and exploration assets across Gabon, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea, according to the release. Oil from Etame Marin sells on the international market, which ties the value of the new wells to the crude price. The crude oil profile tracks the supply and demand picture that prices those barrels.

Any production from the two wells will land in later quarterly reports rather than the current one. Offshore development wells take weeks to drill and complete before they are tied into the block's existing infrastructure. The update reads like a stage report, confirming each step of the campaign.

The release covers only the two named wells; the size of the program beyond them is not disclosed.

At VAALCO's scale, a single development well moves the quarterly production figures. The flow rate is the missing data point, leaving the well's commercial status open. No disclosure date was included with the update. Once the rate lands, it will define the size of the production gain and the reserve booking that follows. VAALCO pays a quarterly dividend out of operating cash flow.

The company said the release contains inside information under the market abuse regulation that applies in the UK. That designation tells the market VAALCO judged the update price-sensitive. Corporate secretary Matthew Powers was named as the person responsible for the announcement. VAALCO trades on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EGY.

The release carries the standard forward-looking statement caution, invoking the safe harbor provisions of US securities law and applicable Canadian securities rules. VAALCO said the expectations in the statement were made in good faith and have a reasonable basis. The company pointed to risks described in its Securities and Exchange Commission filings. A confirmed well result is not booked revenue; revenue arrives after the well is tied in and producing.

VAALCO said the drilling program is ongoing.