Vaalco Energy has completed its Phase 3 drilling campaign offshore Gabon, with the final development well, ETSEM-3H, starting production at approximately 2,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Meanwhile, the company has begun a separate drilling program at the Baobab field offshore Côte d’Ivoire.

The ETSEM-3H well, located in the SE Etame field, achieved an initial stabilized production rate of approximately 2,000 bpd gross, equivalent to 1,140 bpd net to Vaalco Energy.

Drilled in an attic position within the SE Etame field, the well encountered 300 m of net pay in Gamba reservoir sands along its lateral wellbore.

Following completion of the well, Borr Drilling‘s Norve jack-up rig was demobilized from the field, concluding the Phase 3 offshore drilling campaign.

The latest development follows earlier drilling activity in Gabon. In April 2026, Vaalco Energy brought the Etame 14H development well into production, reporting an initial flow rate of approximately 4,850 bpd gross, or 2,850 bpd net to the company.

As previously reported by HMT News, Etame 14H encountered 325 m of net pay in the Gamba reservoir sands before the drilling rig moved to the Ebouri platform for the next well.

With the Gabon campaign completed, Vaalco Energy is also progressing its Baobab Phase 5 drilling program offshore Côte d’Ivoire, where production from the Baobab field resumed during the second quarter of 2026.

According to the company’s 7 October 2026 operational update, drilling has started with the batch-setting of top-hole sections for the planned wells.

The Baobab Phase 5 program comprises four production wells, three water injection wells and two workovers. Once the initial drilling sections are completed, the wells are scheduled to be completed and brought into production sequentially.

Vaalco Energy expects the first new producer to begin production near the end of 2026 and anticipates higher output from the Baobab drilling program in 2027.