Africa-focused oil and gas company VAALCO Energy has started its phase three drilling program offshore Gabon with the spudding of the ET-15 infill well on the Etame platform.
As previously announced, the company secured a drilling rig in December 2024 in conjunction with its Phase Three Drilling Program, with an affiliate of Borr Drilling.
The program includes drilling multiple development wells, and appraisal or exploration wells, and perform workovers, with options to drill additional wells.
Vaalco plans to drill wells at both the Etame platform and at its Seent platform, as well as a re-drill and a number of workovers in the Ebouri field to access production and reserves that were previously removed from proved reserves due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide, the company said in November.
In July 2025, the Company performed planned, staged shutdowns of the Gabon platforms to perform safety inspections and necessary maintenance to increase the integrity and reliability of the assets.
This is the first full field maintenance shutdown that Vaalco has performed since the new Floating Storage and Offloading vessel (FSO) was brought online in 2022. All fields were successfully brought back online and the planned turnaround was completed on budget and with no safety or environmental incidents.
“We are excited to commence our drilling campaign in offshore Gabon and are beginning the near-term series of value creation catalysts that we outlined to the market in our Capital Markets Day presentation this past May.
“The drilling rig arrived in late November, and we have spud our first well, the ET-15. We are initiating the program at the Etame platform with this infill well and the pilot holes.
“After drilling at the Etame platform, we expect to move the rig to the SEENT and Ebouri platforms where we have several wells and workovers planned to enhance production, lower costs and potentially add reserves.
“As we enter 2026, with major projects underway in both Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire, we are looking to drive meaningful growth that we believe will translate into value for our shareholders for the remainder of the decade,” said George Maxwell, Vaalco’s Chief Executive Officer.
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