VAALCO Energy on Monday announced the successful drilling of the South Tchibala 1HB-ST well, offshore Gabon. The well was drilled from the Avouma platform in the Etame field, offshore Gabon.
The company said it had discovered significant columns of multiple hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Dentale, and it was completing the Dentale D1 sand (18 meters net hydrocarbons) interval, which is analogous to the Deep Dentale producing field in North Tchibala with similar porosity and permeability.
"Additional cased Dentale D9 (15 meters net hydrocarbons) interval can be tested and completed in the future," VAALCO said.
According to VAALCO, the well penetrated a thin section of the Gamba sand that is not economically viable to complete in this wellbore.
The result, per VAALCO, adds new reserves that were previously not captured in VAALCO's 2P reserves, and upon successful completion and first production, these reserves will be additive to VAALCO's 1P reserves.
The project potentially adds new future drilling locations in the Deep Dentale trend across the Etame block; and VAALCO is currently completing the South Tchibala 1HB-ST well with initial production expected in June.
George Maxwell, VAALCO's Chief Executive Officer, said: "With the drilling of the South Tchibala 1HB-ST well and completion in the Deep Dentale interval, VAALCO will add new reserves and production that were not previously in our 2P reserve base.
"Additionally, there is the D9 sand that will remain cased as we produce out of the D1 that could be tested or completed in the future. This discovery is analogous to our producing Dentale in North Tchibala. The continued success of our drilling campaign further demonstrates the quality of our premier Etame asset. We expect the well to be online in June and will provide the market with an update when we have initial production data."