Baobab FPSO heading back to Cote d’Ivoire

The FPSO for the CNR-operated Baobab oil field has begun mobilization back to the field location offshore Côte d’Ivoire, following refurbishment at Drydocks World in Dubai, partner Vaalco Energy said in an update.

The vessel had been taken offline on Jan. 31, 2005, departing for Dubai two months later.

A rig has been contracted for planned development drilling program at Baobab, which should get underway in the fourth quarter, after the FPSO returns to service. The campaign should provide a boost to production from the main Baobab Field in Block CI-40, Vaalco added.

Elsewhere in West Africa, the company had completed the initial FEED for a development of the Venus discovery in offshore Block P, focused on drilling studies, facilities design, market inquiries and a metocean review. It is now assessing alternative technical solutions to strengthen the project’s economics.

Over the recently awarded Niosi and Guduma blocks offshore Gabon, the partners began 3D seismic acquisition in November and finished the program in January. It was designed to satisfy the minimum commitments under the terms of the Niosi PSC, Vaalco said, and to help determine whether to proceed into the second exploration period for the Guduma block.

The target zone for the company’s recent West Etame exploration well (ET-14P) offshore Gabon turned out to be water-bearing. Vaalco plans to P&A the well’s lower portion of the well but use the wellbore to drill a sidetrack into the upper portion, in order to drill the ET-14H development well in the Etame Main Fault Block.

Operations should conclude in April.

After finishing the program at the Etame platform, the drilling rig will likely relocate to the SEENT and Ebouri platforms to drill further wells and perform workovers to support future production, and potentially add reserves.