HOUSTON, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- VAALCO Energy, Inc. ("VAALCO") (NYSE: EGY) today announced that the Company has been informed that the strike in Gabon by the National Organisation of Oil Employees (ONEP), which began at midnight, March 31, 2011, has ended. VAALCO expects to resume full production offshore Gabon within 24 hours. Daily gross production in the Etame Marin block offshore Gabon has been recently averaging approximately 23,500 barrels of oil per day.  

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Robert L. Gerry, Chairman and CEO of VAALCO stated, "We are pleased that this matter has been resolved so quickly and we expect to learn the full details of the agreement between ONEP and the Gabonese government in the coming days.  We have already begun to restore production and we believe that VAALCO will be operating at close to full production within 24 hours."  

The Company's subsidiary VAALCO Gabon Etame, Inc. operates the Etame Marin Permit in which it holds a 28.07% net interest in the Etame Field.  Other participants in the permit are Sinopec Group (31.36%) through its subsidiary, Addax Petroleum Etame Inc., Sasol Petroleum Etame Limited (27.75%), Sojitz Etame Limited (2.98%), PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (2.34%) and Tullow Oil Gabon SA (7.5%).

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 and Angola, West Africa and the United States.

Investor Contact        Media Contact

Greg Hullinger          Tim Lynch / Jaime Wert

Chief Financial Officer Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

713-623-0801            212-355-4449

Forward Looking Statements

This document includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements are those concerning VAALCO's plans, expectations, and objectives for future drilling, compliance with applicable laws, future labor issues, completion and other operations and activities. All statements included in this document that address activities, events or developments that VAALCO expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements include future production rates, reserve opportunities, drilling, completion and production timetables and costs to complete wells. These statements are based on assumptions made by VAALCO based on its experience perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond VAALCO's control. These risks include, but are not limited to, volatility of oil and natural gas prices, future production costs, future production quantities, the uncertainty of estimates of oil and natural gas reserves, the ability to replace reserves, inflation, lack of availability of drilling and other equipment, availability of services and capital, environmental risks, drilling and production risks, general economic risks, the ability to attract a new partner in Angola, actions of VAALCO's working interest partners and government authorities, foreign operational risks and regulatory compliance and changes. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks are further described in VAALCO's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2010 and other reports filed with the SEC which can be reviewed at http://www.sec.gov, or which can be received by contacting VAALCO at 4600 Post Oak Place, Suite 309, Houston, Texas 77027, (713) 623-0801.

SOURCE VAALCO Energy, Inc.