VAALCO to start Baobab drilling program in Côte d'Ivoire in September 2026

VAALCO Energy expects to begin a drilling program at the Baobab field offshore Côte d'Ivoire in September 2026. In its second-quarter results on August 6, the company said "a drilling rig has been mobilized." It described the campaign as expected to provide "meaningful production growth" at the main Baobab field in Block CI-40. The CEO called it the Phase Five Drilling Program and said it should provide material production uplift in 2027.

Why it matters

Baobab is one part of a portfolio that also includes Gabon and Egypt. The company's valuation inputs list Etame Marin in Gabon with a P50 oil reserve of 17 mmbbl (stated in 2022) and a 57.2% company interest. Two prospects, SE Etame 4H and SE Etame 4P, are each shown at 1.5 mmbbl of prospective P50 oil, also at 57.2%. These figures are several years old, and none of them relate to Baobab, so the new campaign adds a Côte d'Ivoire growth leg that those estimates do not capture.

Where Baobab stands

The Baobab FPSO, a floating production and storage vessel, went through a refurbishment of about a year. It was reconnected to field infrastructure in early April 2026, and production resumed from all producing wells in June. The first crude oil lifting is scheduled for August 2026.

VAALCO guided third-quarter 2026 production of 19,600 to 21,600 net barrels of oil per day, a 23% increase from the second quarter at the midpoint. It said this includes a full quarter of Côte d'Ivoire output.

What is uncertain

• The start date is stated only as September 2026, and the company gave no specific day.
• The announcement gives no well count, cost or expected output from the new wells, so the size of the uplift is not quantified.
• The company said it kept its 2026 capital budget unchanged, but the release excerpt does not say how much of that is allocated to Baobab.

Recent results

For the quarter ended June 30, VAALCO reported revenue of $135.2 million and net income of $42.4 million. Capital spending was $103.6 million, which included key drilling materials and services for the Côte d'Ivoire campaign.

If the program starts on schedule and the wells succeed, the 2027 production increase the company describes would follow. The announcement does not confirm that outcome.