Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Organization And Accounting Policies

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Organization And Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization And Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Organization And Accounting Policies

   1.  ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES 

VAALCO Energy, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (“VAALCO” or the “Company”) is a Houston-based independent energy company principally engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. As operator, we have production operations and conduct exploration activities in Gabon, West Africa. As non-operator, we participate in exploration and development activities in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa. In the United States, VAALCO is the operator of two unconventional wells in North Texas and holds undeveloped leasehold acreage in Montana. We also own some minor interests in conventional production activities as a non-operator in the United States. As discussed further in Note 4 below, we have discontinued operations associated with our activities in Angola, West Africa.

Our consolidated subsidiaries are VAALCO Gabon (Etame), Inc., VAALCO Production (Gabon), Inc., VAALCO Gabon S.A., VAALCO Angola (Kwanza), Inc., VAALCO UK (North Sea), Ltd., VAALCO International, Inc., VAALCO Energy (EG), Inc., VAALCO Energy Mauritius (EG) Limited and VAALCO Energy (USA), Inc.

These condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited, but in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods presented. All adjustments are of a normal recurring nature unless disclosed otherwise. Interim period results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year.

These condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and do not include all the information and disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements. They should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, which include a summary of the significant accounting policies.

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not affect our consolidated financial results.

Correction of errorAccounts with partners and allowance for bad debtsSubsequent to the issuance of our 2015 financial statements, we identified an error in the presentation on our consolidated balance sheet of the accounts with partners and the associated allowance for bad debts. These accounts incorrectly included a fully reserved receivable of $7.6 million which should have been charged off against the reserve in 2012 when efforts to collect from a removed partner were no longer viable and had been abandoned.  To correct this error, we removed the reference to the $7.6 million allowance from the caption. This correction had no impact on our consolidated balance sheet or the consolidated results of operations.

Bad debtQuarterly, we evaluate our accounts receivable balances to confirm collectability. When collectability is in doubt, we record an allowance against the accounts receivable and a corresponding income charge for bad debts, which appears in the “Bad debt expense (recovery) and other” line of our condensed consolidated statements of operations. The majority of our accounts receivable balances are with our joint venture partners, purchasers of our production and the government of Gabon for reimbursable Value-Added Tax (“VAT”). Collection efforts, including remedies provided for in the contracts, are pursued to collect overdue amounts owed to us. 

In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, we increased the allowance related to VAT due from Gabon by $0.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 we recorded an allowance of $2.8 million related to the VAT receivable due from Gabon. In June 2016, we entered into an agreement with the government of Gabon to receive payments related to the outstanding VAT receivable balance as of December 31, 2015 in thirty-six monthly installments of $0.2 million net to VAALCO. We received one monthly installment payment in July 2016; however, no further payments have been received. The Gabonese government has informed us that they do not expect to make any further payments until early 2017 due to liquidity constraints.

General and administrative related to shareholder mattersDuring the third quarter of 2015, a shareholder group consisting of Group 42, Inc., Bradley L. Radoff and certain other participants (collectively, the "Group 42-BLR Group") attempted to gain control of our Board of Directors. In December 2015, we reached an agreement with the Group 42-BLR Group that included changes to the composition of the Board of Directors and other actions. In connection with this agreement, we reimbursed the Group 42-BLR Group for $350,000 of its legal expenses. Related shareholder litigation filed in Delaware was dismissed by the Delaware Chancery Court on April 20, 2016. See Note 7 below for further discussion of the litigation.