VAALCO Energy has confirmed that its Etame West ET-14P exploration well offshore Gabon has come up dry, but the Houston-based company is wasting no time redirecting the operation toward a nearby productive target it says was always part of the plan.
The well, drilled as part of VAALCO’s Phase Three Drilling Program, encountered 10 metres of high-quality Gamba sands — precisely as predicted before drilling began — but the target zone proved to be water-bearing rather than oil-charged. The lower section of the wellbore will be plugged and abandoned.
Rather than simply walking away from a costly well, VAALCO will utilise the existing upper wellbore to drill the ET-14H development well in the Main Fault Block of Etame — a zone with an established production history. The sidetrack operation is subject to partner approval and is expected to be completed in April.
“When we committed to drilling the Etame West exploration well, we knew there was the geologic risk of not encountering commercial sands, but the size of the potential reservoir made it a risk worth taking,” said George Maxwell, VAALCO’s Chief Executive Officer. “Furthermore, we purposely designed the well so we could still utilize the well bore to drill a development well into a known productive area if the sands were non-commercial.”
Sources: Energy-Pedia / OE Digital