Potentially transformational find for Bowleven

9th Nov 2010 15:28

The full year results of West Africa-focused oil explorer Bowleven were overshadowed by the announcement of potentially transformational hydrocarbon discoveries in the Etinde Permit, off the coast of Cameroon. Drilling on the Sapele-1 exploration well in the Douala Basin identified two promising discoveries. The first discovery, Lower Omicron, encountered light oil/gas condensate in moderate quality reservoir units. The second, Deep Omicron, encountered oil in high quality sands. The well was designed to intersect multiple stacked objectives through Miocene and Cretaceous horizons. As a result, it is believed to have penetrated the extremities of both Miocene prospects at sub-optimal locations.Bowleven has revised its preliminary in place volumetrics on a P90 (proven reserves) to P10 (possible reserves) range following the latest developments. The new estimated provisional figures for Lower Omicron are 40 to 290m barrels or, in the event that the hydrocarbons at that interval are determined to be gas condensate, 75 to 595bn cubic feet, and for Deep Omicron 55 to 380m barrels. "The discovery of hydrocarbons in two separate Miocene reservoir intervals is a significant event for Bowleven. Whilst further evaluation and appraisal is required, we are confident that these are potentially transformational," said Kevin Hart, chief executive of Bowleven.The company, which has zero revenues at present other than finance income, made a profit before tax of $19.5m in the year to 30 June, compared to a loss of $10.1m the year before.Cash and cash equivalents at the end of June stood at $79.1m, down from $130.3m a year earlier.