Vaalco revives Gabon plan to deal with hydrogen sulphide
If successful, company's reserves would receive a welcome fillip
New York-listed independent Vaalco Energy is taking a fresh look at whether resources discovered offshore Gabon that are contaminated with hydrogen sulphide can once again be added to its proven reserves base.
Vaalco added that this well has provided additional oil production, with some extra operating costs associated with chemical treatment.
In the third quarter of this year, the operator will bring Borr Drilling's jack-up rig Norve to Gabon to drill multiple wells — a mixture of development, appraisal and exploration — and perform workovers.
Meanwhile, Vaalco reported that the Baobab floating production, storage and offloading vessel has left Ivory Coast and is on route to Dubai to be refurbished.
The FPSO ceased hydrocarbon at Canadian Natural Resources' Baobab field on 31 January, departed from the field in late March 2025 and "is now currently under tow to the shipyard in Dubai for the refurbishment."
Significant development drilling is expected to begin in 2026 after the FPSO returns to service, said Baobab partner Vaalco, with potential "meaningful additions" to production from the main field, plus a potential future development of the Kossipo discovery, probably as a subsea tieback to the vessel.
Vaalco reported net income of $7.7 million in the first quarter of 2025, unchanged from a year earlier.
Production averaged 17,764 barrels of oil equivalent in the last quarter, up from the 16,848 boepd reported in early 2024, mainly due to Vaalco's Ivory Coast acquisition of a Baobab stake.
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