The Paprika Prospect is drill-ready after field work and additional 3D seismic in 2005

Attracted by the large structural closures evident in the Essaouira Salt Basin, Vanco became the first company to invest in deepwater Morocco in 1998 by acquiring a 3,500 kilometer 2D survey covering two large reconnaissance permits, which were converted into Petroleum Agreements for the Safi Haute Mer and Ras Tafelney blocks in early 2001. Vanco then conducted Morocco's first offshore 3D survey, a 3,000 square kilometer seismic program which delineated the prospective inverted structural trend in Safi Haute Mer and confirmed the configuration of toe-thrust anticlines in Ras Tafelney.

In April 2004, Vanco was joined by Eni and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) in the Ras Tafelney area for the drilling of Morocco's first deepwater well and Vanco's first well as operator. The well was drilled on the Shark B prospect, a large toe-thrust anticline, to a total depth of 3,976 meters with the Saipem 10,000 drillship. Although Upper Cretaceous prospective reservoirs were poorly developed, the well was drilled on-budget and trouble-free, demonstrating Vanco's capabilities as a deepwater operator. Vanco and CNOOC are planning a 1,000 line kilometer 2D seismic program as the exploration of the Ras Tafelney agreement area continues.

In Safi Haute Mer, the multi-TCF Paprika Prospect is ready to drill. Field work was conducted in 2004 and September 2005 to examine the massive Jurassic coarse-grained sandstones which crop out onshore; correlative sandstone units have been traced into the offshore, through a series of fill-and-spill basins to the basin floor turbidite fan deposit that constitutes the primary reservoir objective at Paprika. In 2005, Vanco completed a 719 square kilometer 3D seismic program, which confirmed updip structural closure for the giant prospect.

A well on Paprika could be drilled in the 2007-2008 time period.