VAALCO farms into deepwater exploration block offshore Côte d’Ivoire

VAALCO Energy has agreed to terms for a farm-in to Block CI-705 in the Tano Basin offshore Côte d’Ivoire, according to a March 3 company press release.

The company will operate with a 70% interest and a 100% paying interest via a commercial carry arrangement with partners Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas and state-owned PETROCI. 

CI-705 is 70 km west of Block CI-40, which contains the Baobab and Kossipo oil fields. VAALCO is a partner here to operator CNR. It is also 60 km west of the deepwater Eni-operated Calao oil discovery. 

To date, three exploration wells have been drilled on CI-705, where water depths range from 0-2,500 m.

VAALCO CEO George Maxwell said, “We believe the CI-705 Block is favorably located in a proven petroleum system, near existing infrastructure with access to a strong growing domestic market with attractive upside potential."

Under the terms of the farm-in, he said the company will carry its partners at commercial terms through the seismic reprocessing and interpretation stages and potentially drill up to two exploration wells.

He added, “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.”