VAALCO provides operational updates on North Tchibala well in Africa

In Gabon, the North Tchibala 2H-ST well was brought online in early November and flowed at a low, controlled rate to allow for cleanup and to minimize the negative impact on the completion.

Through early December, the well has flowed, but with temporary interruptions for operational activity and shut-ins for pressure build-up analysis. It produced approxima.

Cleanup is continuing; however, pressure transient analysis indicates the lower stimulated zones may not be contributing. Chemical analysis of oil recovered from the well will help determine if all zones that were fracture stimulated are producing.

Still, post-frac modeling suggests that the well can produce rates at or above 1,500 gross BOPD.

George Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We continue to monitor the fluids flowing from the North Tchibala 2H-ST well to better understand its results. During cleanup, the well has been producing about 275 gross BOPD, however, our post-frac modeling indicates that the well is capable of producing rates in excess of 1,500 gross BOPD.

The well is not cleaning up as expected, with only about 33% of completion fluid recovered. We are continuing to gather information to understand why the lower stimulated zones may not yet be contributing any meaningful production.”

On December 4th, the first lifting from the new FSO “TELI” was successfully completed when the final remaining volumes from the Nautipa FPSO were removed.
In Egypt, VAALCO expects to spud the first horizontal well on December 12th, with completion operations planned for the first quarter of 2023.

In Canada, the tie-in of the 4-10 well is expected in late December with an expected flow rate of about 200 bopd before year-end. Construction on the 14-25-29-04W5 surface lease has been completed with drilling expected to start in early January 2023.