VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY) today provided an update on the company's working interest in Block 5 offshore Angola. VAALCO recently received written confirmation from the Angolan national oil company, Sonangol, that the government of Angola has granted a time extension of the production sharing agreement for Block 5 through the end of 2012.
VAALCO is continuing to work with Sonangol both to identify a working interest partner and to explore possible options involving well drilling obligations and the acquisition and reprocessing of additional 3D seismic data to further develop additional pre-salt leads.
VAALCO noted that recent discovery announcements by other operators appear to confirm the presence of prolific, mature, source rocks and thick, high quality pre-salt reservoirs in the Kwanza basin. VAALCO's Block 5, located in the northern portion of the basin, is situated to trap pre-salt hydrocarbons which may have migrated up-dip from the deeper part of the basin.
