The renewed major oil exploration and production campaigns in the Atlantic basin, driven by firms such as Equinor, Vaalco Energy and Tullow Oil, is bringing the western maritime route back into focus. The offshore sector’s resurgence is not only boosting global energy markets, but also strengthening the Canary Islands archipelago, and in particular Tenerife, thanks to the air connections of a logistics hub tied to its winter cruise connectivity—strategically located at the crossroads between Africa, Europe and America.
The waters of the Gulf of Guinea and West Africa are drawing a continuous deployment of capital aimed directly at the support capabilities of the Canary naval plant. Along the coast of Gabon—about 4,200 kilometers (2,268 nautical miles) from Tenerife—U.S. operator Vaalco Energy has brought the gas supply well ETBNM-3 into production in the North Tchibala structure of the Etame field.
With more than 10 meters of net productive thickness and strong reservoir porosity parameters, the installation will not only increase extraction, but also reduce operating costs by replacing diesel consumption with its own gas in injection operations and power generation.
The platform has already been repositioned to drill the pilot well ETSEM-3PH and begin delineating a 300-meter horizontal well in the Gamba formation. At the same time, around 3,000 kilometers (1,640 nautical miles) from Tenerife, Ghana is consolidating as another major destination for oil investment in West Africa.
Tullow Oil is finalizing preparations to restart drilling in its offshore Jubilee and TEN fields in the second half of 2027. Based on 4D seismic technology studies and analyses of the seafloor, the company plans to carry out subsea pumping projects and convert resources into booked reserves. Tenerife’s geographic proximity to these African assets positions the island as the reference port for safe harbor, supplies and maintenance for support vessels and platforms operating along the African Atlantic margin.
In August, Vaalco Energy reported that the initial results from its latest development well on the Gabon coast appear encouraging. The well Ebouri-5H was completed and brought into production at the top of the structure, providing a 300 m lateral section of net reservoir in the Gamba sands, with an initial flow rate of more than 8,000 barrels per day of oil and very low water content. The drilling rig has been moved to the SEENT platform to carry out the directional drilling of ETBNM-3, the first of the two planned producing wells, near the discovery well GMF-1X. Its objective is to produce gas and condensate from the Dentale D15 reservoir, located on the crest of the North Tchibala structure.
Equinor, Vaalco and Tullow step up drilling in West Africa with an eye on Tenerife was published first on canarymaritime.com.
