REG - Vaalco Energy Inc - Acquisition of interest in CI-705 Block

VAALCO EnergyAnnouncement

03/03/2025 07:15

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250303:nRSC0428Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0428Z  Vaalco Energy Inc  03 March 2025

 

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

 

VAALCO ENERGY, INC. ACQUIRES 70% INTEREST IN AND BECOMES OPERATOR OF OFFSHORE
CÔTE D'IVOIRE CI-705 BLOCK

HOUSTON - March 3, 2025 - VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY; LSE: EGY) ("Vaalco"
or the "Company") announced that it has farmed-in to the CI-705 block offshore
Côte d'Ivoire. Vaalco will become operator of the block with a 70% working
interest and a 100% paying interest through a commercial carry arrangement and
is partnering with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI. The
CI-705 block is located in the prolific Tano basin and is approximately 70
kilometers ("km") to the west of Vaalco's CI-40 Block, where the Baobab and
Kossipo oil fields are located, and 60 km west of ENI's recent Calao
discovery.  Block CI-705 covers approximately 2,300 km(2) and is lightly
explored with three wells drilled to date on the block.  The water depth
across the block ranges from zero to 2,500 meters.  Vaalco has invested $3
million to acquire its interest in the new block which it believes has
significant prospectivity.

"We are very excited to expand our footprint offshore Côte d'Ivoire," said
George Maxwell, Vaalco's Chief Executive Officer. "When we announced our entry
into country in 2024 as a non-operating partner in the CI-40 block, we noted
our excitement to be expanding our West African focus in a well-established
and investment-friendly country. 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, we will operate the block with a 70% working
interest and a 100% paying interest as we carry our partners at commercial
terms through the seismic reprocessing and interpretation stages and
potentially drilling up to two exploration wells. 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. We have demonstrated our
ability to acquire, develop and enhance value with the accretive acquisitions
we have executed in the past. We are also excited about the major projects
that we have planned in 2025 and 2026, which are expected to deliver a
step-change in organic growth across our portfolio. We are pleased to have yet
another opportunity to add value and runway for Vaalco's future."

Source: Vaalco Energy, Inc.

About Vaalco

Vaalco, founded in 1985 and incorporated under the laws of Delaware, is a
Houston, Texas, USA based, independent energy company with a diverse portfolio
of production, development and exploration assets across Gabon, Egypt, Côte
d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Canada.

 

For Further Information

 Vaalco Energy, Inc. (General and Investor Enquiries)  +00 1 713 543 3422
 Website:                                              www.vaalco.com

 Al Petrie Advisors (US Investor Relations)            +00 1 713 543 3422
 Al Petrie / Chris Delange

 Buchanan (UK Financial PR)                            +44 (0) 207 466 5000
 Ben Romney / Barry Archer                             Vaalco@buchanan.uk.com

 

Forward Looking Statements

 

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act")
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are
intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by those laws and other
applicable laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable Canadian securities laws. Where a forward-looking statement
expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results,
such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a
reasonable basis. All statements other than statements of historical fact may
be forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "forecast," "outlook," "aim," "target," "will," "could,"
"should," "may," "likely," "plan" and "probably" or similar words may identify
forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that
a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press
release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to (i) estimates
of future drilling, production, sales and costs of acquiring crude oil,
natural gas and natural gas liquids; (ii) expectations regarding Vaalco's
ability to effectively integrate assets and properties it has acquired as a
result of the Svenska acquisition into its operations; (iii) expectations
regarding future exploration and the development, growth and potential of
Vaalco's operations, project pipeline and investments, and schedule and
anticipated benefits to be derived therefrom; (iv) expectations regarding
future acquisitions, investments or divestitures; (v) expectations of future
balance sheet strength; and (vi) expectations of future equity and enterprise
value.

 

Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other
factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future
results expressed, projected or implied by the forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks relating
to any unforeseen liabilities of Vaalco; the ability to generate cash flows
that, along with cash on hand, will be sufficient to support operations and
cash requirements; risks relating to the timing and costs of completion for
scheduled maintenance of the FPSO servicing the Baobab field; and the risks
described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Vaalco's 2023 Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 15, 2024 and subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC.

 

Inside Information

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Regulation (EU)
No. 596/2014 on market abuse which is part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR") and is made in accordance with
the Company's obligations under article 17 of MAR. The person responsible for
arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Vaalco is Matthew
Powers, Corporate Secretary of Vaalco.

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCDBGDXXGGDGUD