Vaalco Completes One More Etame Field Well

Oil and gas company Vaalco Energy has completed the drilling of the North Tchibala 2H-ST well from the Southeast Etame North Tchibala platform in the Etame field off Gabon.

Vaalco said that it successfully drilled and cemented 9-5/8-inch casing string with multiple potentially productive sands in the Dentale 18/19 pay zones behind the casing. It encountered nearly 100 meters of gross Dentale pay sands which, according to the company, exceeds expectations.

The sands initially targeted for production in this well are analogous to Dentale sands previously productive in the North Tchibala field, with similar porosity and permeability. Additional Dentale sands were encountered in the wellbore that can be targeted for testing and production in the future.

The company is preparing to complete the North Tchibala 2H-ST well utilizing a fracture stimulation vessel that will provide support with multiple stimulation and frac-pack operations. Following the stabilization of the flow rate, Vaalco expects a stable flow rate by the end of October.

As for the Teli FSO, it is permanently moored in position and final connections of the production risers that will deliver oil to the FSO from the Etame Platform are in progress.

All production lines to the Petroleo Nautipa FPSO except for two are disconnected and rerouted. Preparations for decommissioning, demobilization, and retirement of service of the FPSO are going ahead as planned.

The company also installed over 90 percent of the approximately 5,100 meters of new subsea flexible pipe for the reconfiguration of the Etame field as well as all new structural deck extensions at the Etame platform and all equipment packages required for first oil, allowing the platform to serve as the central processing hub for the Etame field once reconfiguration is complete. Completion of all FSO and first oil field reconfiguration activities is expected in the first week of October 2022.

"With the successful drilling of the North Tchibala 2H-ST well that encountered multiple Dentale sands in the wellbore, we are proceeding with completion and fracing in the Dentale 18/19 interval. We expect to have a stabilized flow rate by the end of October, and we are very encouraged by the nearly 100 meters of gross pay sands we encountered during drilling, which exceeded our internal expectations. Once in production, we expect to add new reserves from the 2H-ST well, some of which were not previously in our 2P reserve base. The positive results from this well give us increasing confidence in targeting the Dentale sand for production at Etame in addition to the Gamba - thereby further increasing the production runway from this high-quality field,” George Maxwell, Vaalco CEO, said.

“Additionally, the FSO hookup and Etame full field reconfiguration are proceeding as planned and we currently expect to have the project completed in October. The new FSO provides us with additional flexibility and has an effective capacity for storage that is 50% larger than our current FPSO. It also reduces our expected storage and offloading costs by 50 percent which should lead to an extension of the economic field life, resulting in a corresponding increase in recovery and reserves at Etame,” he added.

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