U.S. oil firm VAALCO Energy said it plans to drill a new development well on its offshore permit in Gabon after an exploration well failed to find commercially viable oil, the company said in an operational update.
The exploration well, known as ET-14P, was drilled on the Etame West structure within the offshore Etame Marin field but did not confirm the presence of commercial quantities of hydrocarbons.
According to the company, the well encountered around 10 metres of reservoir sand in the Gamba formation, a geological structure known to host oil deposits in the region. However, the reservoir was found to contain mostly water rather than oil, making the discovery commercially unviable.
VAALCO said the lower section of the exploration well would be plugged and abandoned. Instead of fully discarding the well, the company plans to reuse the existing wellbore and drill a sidetrack well targeting a different section of the producing field.
The planned development well, designated ET-14H, will aim at a productive area of the Etame field where oil output has already been established.
The Etame Marin offshore permit remains the company’s flagship asset in Gabon and one of its most important producing operations globally.
VAALCO has operated platforms and production facilities at the Etame field since the early 2000s. The offshore block currently produces more than 15,000 barrels of oil per day, according to company results published in 2025.
Despite the unsuccessful exploration result, the company said the move to sidetrack the well would allow it to continue extracting oil from proven sections of the reservoir while limiting additional drilling costs.
Energy analysts say such operational adjustments are common in offshore exploration, where wells are sometimes redirected to nearby reservoirs once new geological information becomes available.
The update comes as VAALCO pursues an expansion strategy aimed at significantly increasing its oil output over the next few years.
Company investor presentations released in 2025 outline plans to boost production by roughly 50 percent by the second half of 2026.
Over the longer term, the Houston-based firm is targeting production levels of more than 50,000 barrels per day by 2030 as it expands across West and Central Africa.
Much of that growth is expected to come from developing existing reserves already identified in the company’s portfolio as well as from new exploration opportunities.
In addition to its operations in Gabon, VAALCO has outlined plans to launch a new drilling campaign in 2026 at the Port-Bouët offshore block in Côte d’Ivoire.
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The company is also continuing development work on the Venus project in Equatorial Guinea as part of its regional expansion plans.
Producing assets remain central to VAALCO’s strategy, with the Etame field continuing to play a key role in its output growth.
Recent drilling activity at the permit has already delivered new production. In February 2026, the company brought another well online at the field, known as ET-15H-ST, which recorded an initial flow rate of about 2,000 barrels per day.
Industry observers say continued development drilling at Etame could help offset the impact of unsuccessful exploration wells and maintain stable output levels from the mature offshore field.
While the failed ET-14P exploration well represents a setback, VAALCO’s decision to redirect the project toward an already producing section of the reservoir highlights the company’s strategy of maximising returns from existing assets while pursuing new exploration opportunities across the region.
