EDITORS’ NOTE

Gene Van Dyke has more than 50 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in geological engineering, his career began in 1951 as an independent producer and operator in Wichita Falls, Texas. From 1958 to 1973, he concentrated on exploration and production activities primarily in the Texas Gulf Coast and southern Louisiana. In 1973, he chose to devote his company exclusively to international offshore exploration, beginning with the North Sea, where he was responsible for many of the significant oil and gas discoveries offshore in The Netherlands. In 1996, Van Dyke turned his company’s activities to deepwater exploration. Vanco acquired and evaluated large frontier blocks in several countries in West Africa, and the company now holds licenses in Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. In 2006, Vanco won the rights to negotiate a production-sharing contract with the government of Ukraine covering the high-potential Prykerchenska area of the Ukrainian Black Sea.

COMPANY BRIEF

Vanco Energy Company (www.vancoenergy.com) is an independent oil and gas company based in Houston, Texas, with principal holdings in offshore deepwater Africa and the Black Sea. For over 50 years, Vanco Founder and Chairman Gene Van Dyke has involved Vanco and its predecessors in domestic and international exploration and production activity.

Why did Vanco Energy strongly compete for and win the first offshore Black Sea production-sharing agreement for hydrocarbons with the Ukrainian government?

The Black Sea is one of the only unexplored basins in the world. Its water depth of up to 2,100 meters has held back exploration, although it has the same petroleum potential as the Caspian. The north half of the Black Sea is under the jurisdiction of Ukraine. Several years ago, Vanco purchased an extensive two-dimensional seismic program of the Black Sea portion of Ukraine. It indicated a number of very large structures, most of which had direct hydrocarbon indicators. The Ukrainian government put the Prykerchenska block up for bid – a total of 3.2 million acres southeast of the Crimea, in depths from 100 to 2,100 meters. Vanco reviewed its potential, decided it had an excellent chance of containing major oil and gas reserves, filed an application for it, and, in a competitive bid, was awarded the right to negotiate a production-sharing contract.

What are Vanco Energy’s short- and long-term plans and prospects for the Prykerchenska area of the northern Black Sea?

The Atwood Southern Cross is a deepwater semi-submersible. It is currently drilling in the western portion of the Black Sea, and is scheduled to drill for Vanco in the northeastern portion of our block. During 2007 and 2008, we plan to conduct a three-dimensional seismic program of 3,000 square kilometers and start making plans for drilling on Tetyaev, which is a very large structure in 2,100-meter-deep water. We have mapped many structures on our Prykerchenska license, and feel it has great potential for both oil and gas, and can contribute significantly to Ukraine becoming energy independent.