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Under the terms of the FTSA, COPDC will About OML 65: a producing onshore block ESP damage; Plan to evaluate and recomplete the
receive immediate cash flow entitlements related located within the Greater Ughelli Depobelt, D9 interval during the next drilling campaign;
to the assumption of operational responsibility Niger Delta, Nigeria. The existing producing Expected higher oil production rates from the
for existing production. field, Abura, has been in production since the D9 interval, which is analogous to the North
Phase 1 of the AWP will focus initially on 1970s, has been ascribed 16.2mn barrels remain- Tchibala sands currently on production; Den-
the further development of the Abura field, ing 2P reserves. tale D9 interval has an estimated original oil in
involving the drilling and completion of up to OML 65 also contains two further discov- place (OOIP) range of 4-15mn barrels of oil; and
nine development wells, intended to produce ered fields with an estimated 34.9 mn barrels (1) Due to low flow volumes below the minimum
the remaining 2P reserves of 16.2mn barrels additional 2P reserves, Owopele and Osioka. recommended operating range of the ESP, the
(1). COPDC will enjoy material cash flow enti- The fields have not been developed to date and South Tchibala 1HB-ST well will be intermit-
tlements related to the incremental production will form part of the forward work programme. tently flowed, using well cycling, to determine
generated by the AWP, involving enhanced cost The recoverable volumes attributed to the if production improvements will occur and to
recoveries and a share of the field post-tax net Abura, Osioka and Owopele fields by Gaffney project future reserve recovery expectations;
cash flows. The Abura field is currently averaging Cline are based on an assumed average recov- and Primarily due to the South Tchibala 1HB-
production of circa 10,000 bpd of oil and Phase 1 ery factor of 30%, which is conservative in the ST well performance, VAALCO’s full year 2022
of the drilling programme is estimated to boost context of recovery factors typically achieved on net production guidance is being reduced by 750
production from the Abura field by up to an analogous fields in the Niger Delta. NRI bpd of oil at the midpoint to a range of 9,000
additional 11,000 bpd of oil. Gaffney Cline has estimated 3P reserves to 9,500 NRI bpd of oil.
Sirius has a Master Services Agreement of over 78mn barrels for Abura, Osioka and George Maxwell, VAALCO’s CEO, com-
(MSA) in place with Baker Hughes relating to the Owopele, implying an additional 27mn barrels mented: “The production from the D1 forma-
development of OML 65, providing a compre- of recoverable volumes in the high case. In addi- tion of the South Tchibala 1HB-ST has been
hensive range of drilling and related Integrated tion, there are two targeted deeper prospects below expectations and as a result, we are low-
Well Services under a mutually agreed pricing at Abura and Osioka containing an additional ering full-year 2022 production guidance by 750
structure. The MSA with Baker Hughes will 227mn barrels (1) oil in place, to which Gaffney NRI bpd of oil at the midpoint. Despite this, we
ensure best execution of the AWP in a cost-effi- Cline have attributed P50 prospective resources remain optimistic about the D9 formation and
cient manner, benefitting all stakeholders. of 91mn barrels, implying a recovery factor of plan to recomplete that interval in the South
As announced on January 27, 2022, Sirius has 40%. The existing production facilities and infra- Tchibala 1HB-ST wellbore during our next
agreed a facility of up to $200mn with Trafigura structure servicing the Abura field are capable of drilling campaign. We plan to drill additional
PTE Ltd, a company within the Trafigura Group, handling up to 40,000 bpd of oil. wells in the 2021/2022 drilling campaign that
which will be deployed towards the execution of (1) Gaffney Cline & Associates June 2021 could positively impact our production toward
the AWP. The initial tranche of this facility will be CPR the end of the year and into 2023. By exercising
combined with $15m of subordinated funding, Sirius Petroleum, August 3 2022 our additional options on the current drilling
which has been secured from a range of interna- rig in a time of continued strong pricing, we are
tional institutions, including Odey Asset Man- VAALCO Energy provides maximizing our potential to add meaningful
agement as a cornerstone investor. reserves and production to VAALCO’s portfolio.
Bobo Kuti, CEO of Sirius, said: “We have operational update The Etame asset is a premier, high-quality field
assembled a world class team of joint venture, that has produced over 126mn barrels of oil since
financing and operational partners working VAALCO Energy has provided an update on we began producing it over 20 years ago and we
together with NPDC on the OML 65 project the South Tchibala 1HB-ST well, located in the believe there is still significant upside to be cap-
in Nigeria and look forward to commencing Etame Marin block, offshore Gabon, as well as tured over the next decade.”
the work programme for the first phase of this updated full year production guidance. Etame – South Tchibala 1HB-ST: The South
major development for all stakeholders. Phase 1 Highlights, South Tchibala 1HB-ST well: Tchibala 1HB-ST discovered two potential Den-
is designed to deliver a substantial uplift in pro- Penetrated a thin section of the Gamba sand tale producing zones, the Dentale D1 sand and
duction from the Abura field. In addition, the that is not economically viable to complete in the Dentale D9. The first completion was in the
financial facilities will also support our plans for this wellbore; Discovered two potential Dentale shallower D1, which included a hydraulic frac-
Phase 2 of the development programme for the producing zones, the Dentale D1 sand and the ture treatment to increase both the production
block. This is an important asset for the Com- Dentale D9 sand; Completed the Deep Dentale flow rate and recovery from the D1 interval.
pany, with immediate cash flows and significant D1 sand interval with a small frac pack; This To date, production rates have been well
upside potential for all stakeholders under the sand interval has good quality oil with low gas- below the minimum recommended operat-
innovative FTSA structure which was developed oil ratio (GOR) that has produced an average ing range of the ESP which has required more
for this specific project with [NNPC Ltd]. of 150-200 in net revenue interest (NRI) bpd of frequent well cycling to prevent ESP damage.
“In line with our strategy, we remain focused oil; Production rates have been well below the Pressure transient analysis has been used during
on building our portfolio of African focused minimum recommended operating range of the well shut-in periods to determine D1 reservoir
production and development assets. We would electrical submersible pump (ESP), which has characteristics in this area. According to several
like to thank the many stakeholders in this trans- required more frequent well cycling to prevent analyzed pressure build-ups, multiple bound-
action, particularly our shareholders and trans- aries near the well and low permeability have
action advisers, for their patience and support combined to restrict the capability of the well
throughout the process. We can now look for- to continuously provide oil at stable rates. Pro-
ward to progressing the Company’s Admission duction and shut-in cycling of the well will be
process and working towards the listing of the continued to determine if production improve-
Company’s shares on the London AIM market ments will occur and to project future reserve
this year.” recovery expectations.

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 30 28•July•2022