Vaalco’s Revamped FPSO Sets Sail Back to Côte d’Ivoire as Gabon Drilling Campaign Presses On
Houston-based Vaalco Energy is weeks away from welcoming back a refurbished floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the Baobab field off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, while its parallel drilling campaign offshore Gabon continues to deliver results.
The FPSO Baobab ceased hydrocarbon production on 31 January 2025, with the final crude oil lifted in February and the vessel departing the field in late March 2025 for a dry dock refurbishment in Dubai. The revamp was completed in February 2026, and the unit — currently off the coast of South Africa — is now mobilising back to Côte d’Ivoire, with arrival expected by late March 2026 and field restart targeted for Q2 2026.
Once the FPSO returns to service, Vaalco plans to launch its Phase 5 drilling programme at Baobab, with a rig already secured for development drilling in the fourth quarter of 2026. The campaign is expected to add meaningful production from the main Baobab field in the CI-40 block.
Vaalco was also confirmed last month as operator of the Kossipo field on CI-40, holding a 60% working interest. The Kossipo field was discovered in 2002 and appraised in 2019, when the Kossipo-2A well tested at over 7,000 barrels of oil per day. A field development plan is due to be completed in the second half of 2026, informed by recently acquired ocean bottom node seismic data currently being analysed.
In Gabon, Vaalco’s phase three drilling programme, which kicked off in the fourth quarter of 2025 using Borr Drilling’s Norve jack-up rig, has achieved its first production milestone. The Etame 15H-ST1 development well, drilled in December 2025, was completed and brought online in January 2026, confirming results from the earlier ET-15P pilot well.
However, the West Etame exploration well ET-14P proved non-commercial, encountering only water-bearing sands in the primary target zone. Rather than abandon the wellbore, Chief Executive George Maxwell said the company intends to sidetrack and drill the ET-14H development well in the Main Fault Block of Etame, with operations expected to wrap up in April. The drill rig will subsequently move to the SEENT and Ebouri platforms for additional wells and workovers aimed at boosting production and lowering costs.
A 3D seismic campaign at the Niosi and Guduma blocks, launched in November 2025, was also completed in January 2026 and will inform the company’s decision on whether to enter the second exploration period for the Guduma block.
Source: offshore-energy.biz
