VAALCO's New Offshore Well in Gabon Commences Production, Producing Approximately 2,000 Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, the U.S. oil and gas company VAALCO Energy completed the Phase 3 drilling campaign in the Etame Marin block offshore Gabon. The newly developed well ETSEM-3H has been brought into production, with a stable initial crude oil production rate of approximately 2,000 barrels per day, of which approximately 1,140 barrels per day is net to VAALCO's interest. The company has also commenced Phase 5 drilling at the Baobab field in Côte d'Ivoire, with plans to add 4 production wells and 3 water injection wells, and the first new production well is expected to come on stream by the end of 2026.

The ETSEM-3H well is located at a structurally higher position in the SE Etame field and was developed using a horizontal well design, encountering 300 meters of effective oil pay in the high-quality sandstone of the Gamba reservoir. The well has completed drilling, completion, and production operations, and is the final well in this drilling campaign. With the conclusion of operations, the Borr Norve jack-up drilling rig owned by Borr Drilling has been demobilized from the field.

VAALCO is the operator of the Etame Marin block in Gabon, holding a 58.8% working interest. In April 2026, the company completed and brought into production the Etame 14H development well at the Etame field, which had an initial crude oil production rate of approximately 4,850 barrels per day, with approximately 2,850 barrels per day net to the company's interest. Drilling activities subsequently continued on other offshore platforms, culminating in the completion of the Phase 3 development program with the commencement of production from this new well.

Offshore Côte d'Ivoire, the Baobab field in which VAALCO participates is located in Block CI-40 and is operated by CNR. The field resumed production in the second quarter of 2026, after the Baobab Ivoirien floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel completed life extension modifications in Dubai and was redeployed to the field.

The Phase 5 development program has entered batch drilling operations, with the operator sequentially drilling the upper sections of each well. Once all upper sections are completed, subsequent drilling and completion operations will continue, with wells being tied into the production system in batches. This campaign also includes workover operations on 2 existing wells. VAALCO expects the first new production well to come on stream by the end of 2026, with subsequent new wells progressively increasing field production in 2027.