VAALCO Energy, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies (Narrative) (Details)

Commitments and Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / bbl $ / d item bbl	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 26, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 17, 2018 USD ($)
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Abandonment Funding			$ 11,112	$ 11,571
Accrued liabilities and other			$ 23,886	14,138
Charter fee for production up to 20,000 BOPD \| $ / bbl			0.93
Charter fee amount threshold \| bbl			20,000
Charter fee for those bbls produced in excess of 20,000 BOPD \| $ / bbl			2.50
Company's share of charter expense				10,800
Number of drilled wells required by agreement \| item			2
Number of appraisal wells required by agreement \| item			2
Estimated costs of wells, gross amount			$ 68,500
Estimated costs of wells			23,000
Estimated costs of technical studies, net			400
Abandonment cost related to annual funding			61,800
Abandonment cost related to annual funding, net			$ 19,200
Payment of other taxes		$ 1,300
Day rate of drilling rig contract \| $ / d			75,000
Potential Fees From Customs Audits [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Accrued liabilities and other				1,300
Gabon
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Abandonment Funding			$ 11,100
Contractual obligation								$ 21,800
Accrued liabilities, end of drilling activities, gross amount							$ 5,000
Accrued liabilities, end of drilling activities						$ 1,700
Abandonment funding, gross			35,700
Loss contingency			$ 4,400		$ 4,400
Gabon \| Subsequent Event
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Payment of joint venture audit settlement	$ 1,100
Offshore Gabon
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Production License Agreement Term Extended By Government			5 years
Percentage of annual funding over seven years			12.14%
Funding period for initial rate			7 years
Second funding period of production license			3 years
Percentage of annual funding over last three years			5.00%
Funding period abandonment funding			10 years
Number of contract extension periods \| item			2
Full Charter Payment [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Contractual obligation			$ 53,900	53,928
FPSO Charter [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of extensions \| item			2
Period of charter (in years)			1 year
Percentage of share in charter payment			31.10%
Share in charter payment, approximate annual amount			$ 9,700
Liabilities, guarantees' fair value			$ 200	$ 200