VAALCO Energy delivered First Oil to the Teli floating, storage, and offloading (FSO) vessel at its Etame Field offshore Gabon on October 18, the company has revealed. The installation of the FSO had been ongoing for several months to replace the previous Petróleo Nautipa FPSO vessel operated by BW Offshore, whose contract expired in September this year.
Etame is VAALCO Energy’s flagship project with a net production to the company of some 10,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) on average. A recent extension of the production sharing contract (PSC) until 2028 paved the way for the reconfiguration of the field and a new drilling campaign.
In August 2021, VAALCO Energy signed a binding letter of intent with World Carrier Offshore Services Corp. to provide and operate a FSO unit for up to eight years with additional option periods available. The agreement eventually led to the execution of a Bareboat Contract and Operating Agreement with Greece’s World Carrier Corp. to provide and operate the new Teli FSO. In doing so, VAALCO Energy expects to reduce storage and offloading costs almost 50%, lower total operating costs by approximately 17% to 20% through 2030, and increase effective capacity for storage by over 50%.
In total, and once the field is reconfigured, the agreement with World Carrier is expected to lead to annual operating expense savings of around $20 to $25m over the life of the new agreement, according to VAALCO.
Meanwhile the company recently extended its ongoing drilling campaign on the block from four to six wells. The Etame 8HST, Avouma 3H-ST, South Tchibala 1HB-ST, and ETBNM 2H—ST have already been drilled this year, tracking data from the Hawilti+ research terminal shows.