The Securities Commission has granted VAALCO Energy, Inc. (the Filer) an exemption from the requirements of National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101), under certain conditions. The Filer is a Delaware corporation with oil and gas interests in Africa and Canada, and is a reporting issuer in Canadian provinces but has a minimal percentage of its shareholders in Canada. It is also listed on the New York and London stock exchanges.
The exemption is based on the fact that the Filer is already subject to and compliant with U.S. disclosure requirements for oil and gas activities, as it is registered under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and follows the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The exemption is conditional upon the Filer remaining a U.S. issuer and an SEC foreign issuer, continuing to prepare its oil and gas disclosures in accordance with U.S. rules, issuing a news release in Canada to inform that it will follow U.S. disclosure rules, and filing its disclosures with Canadian securities regulators promptly after filing them in the U.S.
The decision is made under the authority of the securities legislation of Alberta and Ontario, with Alberta Securities Commission as the principal regulator, and is also representative of the decision of the securities regulatory authority in Ontario. The exemption reflects the principle that the Filer’s compliance with U.S. rules is sufficient to meet the disclosure expectations in Canada for its Canadian investors, given its status and the proportion of its shareholder base in Canada.