Côte d’Ivoire

In the Baobab field in Block CI-40 offshore Côte d’Ivoire, the floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) Baobab stopped hydrocarbon production on January 31, 2025, as part of the planned dry dock refurbishment. After the final crude oil was lifted from the FPSO in February 2025, the vessel departed from the field in late March 2025 and is now being towed to the shipyard in Dubai for refurbishment.

“In Côte D’Ivoire, we commenced the FPSO refurbishment project and are preparing for a drilling campaign in 2026 to augment the production and economic life of the Baobab field,” said George Maxwell, Vaalco’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The field is operated by Canadian Natural Resources International (CNRL), with a 57.61% working interest. Vaalco has a 27.39% stake after acquiring Svenska Petroleum last year, and the remaining 15% is held by the national oil company, Petroci Holding.

Vaalco hopes to kick off “significant” development drilling in 2026, after which the FPSO Baobab is expected to return to service with potential meaningful additions to production from the Baobab field. The development of the Kossipo field, which is also on the license, is another possibility.

In March 2025, the U.S. player announced having farmed into another block in the country, CI-705. The company is the operator of the block with a 70% working interest 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 what is said to be the prolific Tano basin, approximately 70 kilometers west of the CI-40 block. It covers approximately 2,300 square kilometers 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 meters. The acquisition of the stake in the block cost Vaalco $3 million.

Based on the firm’s initial assessment, the block contains both oil and natural gas prospects. A detailed, integrated geological analysis is planned to assess and mature the understanding of the block’s overall prospectivity.