Africa-focused Vaalco starts producing oil from new well off Gabon

Africa-focused Vaalco Energy has reported "encouraging" results on its latest Etame field development well -- part of a long-awaited Gabon drilling campaign -- with an initial flow rate of about 5,000 barrels/day, it said April 21.

In a statement, the Houston-based company said it had successfully drilled and brought online the Etame 14H well within the Main Fault Block of its offshore Etame field.

The well achieved an "excellent initial flow rate" of 4,850 b/d of crude oil and encountered 325 meters of net pay in high-quality Gamba reservoir sands, with porosity and permeability beating expectations, it said.

The company also said it had mobilized its rig to the nearby Ebouri platform and commenced drilling on its EEBOM-5H development well.

It will also work over two other wells, Vaalco said, as part of a multi-well campaign to add production and reserves, bring the Ebouri field into meaningful production and carry out infrastructure-led exploration off the Etame field.

The campaign on the Etame Marin license -- which started with a 2,000 b/d Etame 15H-ST development well -- was initially slated to start in Q3 2025. Vaalco is the operator with a 58.8% working interest.

Côte d'Ivoire FPSO

Beyond Gabon, Vaalco has successfully towed its Baobab floating production, storage, and offloading vessel from Dubai to Côte d'Ivoire following a lengthy refurbishment.

The FPSO is now moored in its original location and should restart crude production from the 4,500 b/d field in the second quarter, the company added.

It comes two months after Vaalco agreed to take over as operator of the Kossipo field off Côte d'Ivoire, where it is pursuing a 7,000 b/d crude development.

"We are at a critical junction, with successes in the Gabon drilling campaign and the Baobab field returning to production, and we believe that the remainder of 2026 will be very profitable," said George Maxwell, Vaalco's CEO, in the statement.

"We remain focused on execution and driving meaningful growth through our organic capital programs that we believe will translate into value for our shareholders in 2026 and beyond."

The company boasts upstream assets across Gabon, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria and has previously outlined an ambition of delivering 225% organic growth by 2030.

Vaalco pumped 21,150 b/d on average in 2025. Maxwell told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, in an interview in 2025 that the company is aiming to raise output to 50,000 boe/d through organic growth and mergers and acquisitions.