Vaalco Energy reported operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2025, including operational updates in Gabon, Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire.
In Q1 2025, Vaalco completed five wells in Egypt. Four of the five wells were brought online and had an average initial production rate for the first 30 days of approximately 135 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The fifth well was brought online in early Q2 2025. In addition to all new wells successfully increasing production levels, new reserves and a new production zone were discovered in the Bakr formation. The company is reviewing several options to improve flow as the reservoir contains heavier oil.
Vaalco continues to perform detailed technical reviews of its newly drilled and existing wells while also continuing to work on enhancing production through a series of planned workovers and recompletions.
In December 2024, Vaalco secured a drilling rig in conjunction with its 2025/2026 drilling program, which is planned to begin in Q3 2025 to drill multiple development wells in Gabon and appraisal or exploration wells, as well as to perform workovers, with options to drill additional wells.
Vaalco plans to drill the wells at both the Etame platform and at the Seent platform, and perform a re-drill and several workovers in the Ebouri field to access production and reserves that were previously shut in and removed from proved reserves due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
In addition, Vaalco conducted an extended flow test on the Ebouri 4-H well to gather information on the H2S concentrations at this location to aid in equipment design and to evaluate the chemical crude sweetening process. The well has flowed for over four months, and the H2S concentration is within modeling expectations, demonstrating the company’s ability to treat the oil. The well has provided additional production, with some additional operating costs associated with the chemical treatment, adding to the Company’s strong first quarter results.
In March 2025, Vaalco announced that it had farmed into the CI-705 block offshore Côte d’Ivoire. Vaalco is the operator of the block with a 70% WI and a 100% paying interest through a commercial carry arrangement and is partnering with Ivory Coast Exploration Oil & Gas SAS and PETROCI.
The CI-705 block is located in the prolific Tano basin and is approximately 70 km to the west of Vaalco’s CI-40 Block, where the Baobab and Kossipo oil fields are located, and 60 km west of ENI’s recent Calao discovery. Block CI-705 covers approximately 2,300 sq km and is lightly explored with three wells drilled to date on the block. The water depth across the block ranges from zero to 2,500 m.
