Vanco Energy Co. completes drilling of San Pedro No. 1 well

Offshore staff

Vanco Energy Co. has completed drilling operations for the San Pedro No. 1 well, which targeted one of nine fault blocks on the CI-112 exploration permit offshore Côte d'Ivoire.

Vanco holds the permit for the one million acre license area, which is held under a production sharing contract (PSC) signed with the government of Côte d'Ivoire on April 20, 1999.

The well is 35 km off the coast of western Côte d'Ivoire in 1,735 m water depth. The operator successfully drilled on time and on budget to 3,100 m TD and evaluated the Cretaceous Albian sands. Vanco has plugged and abandoned the well it spudded on March 25, using theTransocean Deepwater Discovery.

Vanco will now analyze the results of the well and the ongoing prospectivity of the CI-112 license. The government of Côte d'Ivoire has granted a three-month extension to the current period of exploration under the PSC. This extension gives Vanco until July 20 to decide to enter the next period of exploration.

Vanco Côte d'Ivoire Ltd. is operator and holds 27% of the license having previously farmed out to its partners Sinopec Overseas Oil & Gas Ltd. 27%; ONGC Videsh Ltd. 21.15%; Petroci Holding 14.5%, and Oil India Ltd. 10.35%.

04-27-05