Vanco and LUKOIL Discover Gas-Condensate and Oil at Dzata-1

ACCRA, Ghana--Vanco Ghana Ltd. (Vanco), together with LUKOIL Overseas Ghana Ltd. and GNPC, announces that the Dzata-1 exploration well drilled on the Cape Three Points Deep Water Block located offshore the Republic of Ghana has discovered a significant hydrocarbon accumulation based on the results of drilling, wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluid.

Dzata-1 is situated in a water depth of 1,878 meters, approximately 75 kilometers (45 miles) south of Cape Three Points, and represents the deepest water exploration well drilled to date in the Ghanaian Tano Basin. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,433 meters and at 3,653 meters encountered a gross hydrocarbon column of 94 meters with 25 meters of net stacked oil and gas pay. The primary reservoir sandstone between the depths of 3,663 and 3,690 meters contains gas and light oil. Volatile black oil was recovered from a zone between 3,701 and 3,709 meters. The well has been plugged and temporarily abandoned pending further evaluation.

The Dzata discovery, in a Cenomanian/Albian faulted anticlinal trap, opens a new prospective trend in the eastern part of the prolific Tano Basin. Dzata continues the series of recent exploration successes, which include discoveries at Jubilee, Tweneboa, Odum and Sankofa. In addition to the 1,500 square kilometer 3D survey acquired in 2005 which was used to define the Dzata Prospect, Vanco and LUKOIL are currently acquiring a new 1,664 square kilometer 3D program to identify prospective features in the northern and western parts of the block.

The Dzata-1 well was drilled using the “Sedco 702” - a dynamically positioned fifth-generation deepwater semi-submersible drilling unit. This is the first exploration well to be drilled in the Cape Three Points Deep Water Petroleum Agreement Area, which encompasses an area of 5,164 square kilometers (1.27 million acres) in water depths ranging from 200 to 3,000 meters in the Tano Basin.

On April 1, 2009, the Government of the Republic of Ghana, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Vanco Ghana Ltd. and LUKOIL Overseas Ghana Ltd. signed a new Petroleum Agreement covering the Cape Three Points Deep Water Block and the new agreement was ratified by Parliament on June 30, 2009.

Vanco (Operator) holds a 28.34% participating interest with LUKOIL holding a 56.66% participating interest. GNPC, the state oil company, holds a 15% carried interest, with the option to acquire up to an additional 5% in any commercial discovery.