Vanco is exploring Ghana's deepwater potential.

The Tano-Ivorian Basin represents a ‘sweet spot’ along the transform margin of Africa where the presence of active petroleum systems enhances the potential for deepwater oil and gas discoveries. Extensive Tano tar sands and oil seepages are known in onshore Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and exploration efforts to date on the continental shelf have yielded numerous oil and gas discoveries. Vanco's interest is focused on the deeper water area where structures become more robust and are well-situated to contain major hydrocarbon resources. With this in mind, Vanco signed the Cape Three Points Deep Water Petroleum Agreement with the Ghanaian authorities in August 2002.

 

Later in 2002, Vanco conducted a 3,323 kilometer 2D seismic program to further evaluate the block. The new data revealed the presence of a previously unknown foreland basin with large compressional folds and inverted synrift structures. An extensive 1,500-square-kilometer 3D seismic program was then conducted in 2005 to further define the structural and stratigraphic prospects in the block. The new data confirm the presence at least nine major structural prospects, three of which are fully interpreted and drill-ready.
Prospect E, now known as Dzata, and Prospect A are compressional anticlines which exhibit dramatic "gas clouds" and other direct hydrocarbon indicators. Prospect H is located in the ‘hinge zone’ setting, which is often the locus for hydrocarbon migration and entrapment.
The recent Mahogany discovery, now known as the Jubilee Field, located only 50 miles from Cape Three Points Deep Water, is estimated to hold 500 million to 1.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The Hyedua appraisal well confirmed the presence of this major oil accumulation. This has triggered extensive exploration activity in the region including several wells that are planned by Vanco and others in the emerging transform margin play. Russian giant LUKOIL Overseas Ltd. has joined Vanco to drill the first well in Cape Three Points Deep Water on the Dzata Prospect during 2008.