Vaalco Energy received approval from the Equatorial Guinea government to acquire a 31% non-operating working interest in a production and development area (PDA) in Block P offshore Equatorial Guinea from Petronas Carigali Overseas, Vaalco announced.

The company paid $10 million for the working interest, according to the news release.

The PDA, which is operated by GEPetrol, the national oil company of Equatorial Guinea, contains the Venus field discovered in 2005. The field is estimated to contain between 15 and 30 million gross recoverable barrels of oil, the release said. The PDA also contains a number of exploration prospects that Vaalco believes are highly attractive, primarily the SW Grande Prospect and the Marte Prospect, each of which has the potential to add substantial reserves to Vaalco.

VAALCO expects the near-term plans for the PDA will be the drilling of exploration wells on both the SW Grande and Marte prospects in 2013 followed by completing a plan of development, including the Venus discovery, the release stated.

Additional partners in the PDA include GEPetrol (38.4%), Atlas Petroleum International Limited (5.6%), and Crown Energy Ventures Corporation (5.0%). In addition, the government of Equatorial Guinea has a 20% carried working interest.