COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2024 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Abandonment funding
Under the terms of the Etame PSC, the Company has a cash funding arrangement for the eventual abandonment of all offshore wells, platforms and facilities on the Etame Marin block. At September 30, 2024, $10.7 million ($6.3 million, net to VAALCO) of the abandonment fund has been funded on an undiscounted basis. The annual payments will be adjusted based on revisions in the abandonment estimate. This cash funding is reflected under “Other noncurrent assets” in the “Abandonment funding” line item of the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. Future changes to the anticipated abandonment cost estimate could change the asset retirement obligation and the amount of future abandonment funding payments.
Share Buyback Program
On November 1, 2022, the Company announced that the Company’s board of directors formally ratified and approved a share buyback program. The board of directors also directed management to implement a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan (the “10b5-1 Plan”) to facilitate share purchases through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The 10b5-1 Plan provided for an aggregate purchase of currently outstanding common stock up to $30 million over a maximum period of 20 months. Payment for shares repurchased under the share buyback program were funded using the Company's cash on hand and cash flow from operations. The share buyback program was completed on March 12, 2024. Under the share buyback program, we purchased a total of 6,797,711 shares at an average price of $4.41 per share.
Merged Concession Agreement
The Company is a party to the Merged Concession Agreement with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (“EGPC”). In accordance with the Merged Concession Agreement, the Company is required to make a $10.0 million annual modernization payment to EGPC each year through February 1, 2026. The $10.0 million modernization payment due February 1, 2024 was offset against receivables owed to the Company from EGPC. On the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2024, $9.7 million of the remaining modernization payment liability was recorded in the line item “Accrued liabilities and other” and $9.0 million was recorded in “Other long-term liabilities.”
The Company also has minimum financial work commitments of $50.0 million per each five-year period of the primary development term, commencing on February 1, 2020 for a total of $150 million over the 15-year license contract term. Through September 30, 2024, the Company's financial work commitments have exceeded the five-year minimum $50 million threshold and any excess carries forward to offset against subsequent five-year commitments.
As the Merged Concession Agreement was signed in January 2022 and became effective as of February 1, 2020 (the “Merged Concession Effective Date”), there was an effective date adjustment owed to the Company for the difference in the historic commercial terms and the revised commercial terms applied against the production since the Merged Concession Effective Date. The Company recognized a receivable in connection with the Merged Concession Effective Date adjustment of $67.5 million as of October 13, 2022, based on historical realized prices (the "Backdated Receivable"). Subsequent to the determination of the Merged Concession Effective Date adjustment, VAALCO and EGPC have agreed to offset outstanding payables owed to EGPC against the Backdated Receivable balance. In June 2024, EGPC confirmed the final settlement amount of $40.5 million owed to the Company. The remaining net receivable is recorded in the “Egypt receivables and other” line item in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2024.
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