HOUSTON, Oct. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY) today announced the commencement of a new six well drilling campaign offshore Gabon on its Etame Marin block.  The development drilling campaign follows the recent on-schedule installation of the Etame platform and the Southeast Etame/North Tchibala ("SEENT") platform.  All work on this project was accomplished without a safety or environmental incident.  

All six wells in the current drilling campaign are development wells and VAALCO has spudded the first well, Etame 8-H, using the contracted Transocean "Constellation II" jack-up rig.  The Constellation II rig will be used to drill two additional development wells (Etame 9-H and 10-H), each targeting the Gamba sand formation in the Etame field, where VAALCO has been producing oil since 2002 utilizing subsea wells.  First oil production from the Etame 8-H well is expected in December 2014. 

The Constellation II will be mobilized to drill three additional development wells from the SEENT platform, beginning with a well to be drilled in the Southeast Etame field where the Company drilled a successful exploration well in 2010.  The remaining two development wells in the six well campaign will target Dentale sand formations in the North Tchibala field. 

The newly installed Etame and SEENT platforms are each equipped with eight well slots to provide for the option to drill up to five additional development wells from each platform after the completion of the current six well drilling campaign. 

Steve Guidry, CEO, commented: "The spudding of the first well in this new drilling campaign offshore Gabon is a proud moment for VAALCO and the culmination of years of work.  The successful installation of two new platforms to support production has been a complex operational undertaking involving employees throughout our Company and I could not be more proud of their collective achievement.  We are now in a position to further develop the producing fields in the Etame Marin concession that have been the cornerstone of VAALCO's growth and the creation of shareholder value."

About VAALCO

VAALCO Energy, Inc. is a Houston based independent energy company principally engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil.  VAALCO's strategy is to increase reserves and production through the exploration and exploitation of oil and natural gas properties with high emphasis on international opportunities.  The company's properties and exploration acreage are located primarily in Gabon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea in West Africa.

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SOURCE VAALCO Energy, Inc.