Bowleven in Kenya
By Roxana Zega - Sep 17, 2012 11:30 AM GMT
BowLeven Plc (BLVN), the U.K. oil explorer that’s focused on Cameroon, will start searching for oil in Kenya after buying a 50 percent stake in an onshore exploration block from Adamantine Energy Ltd.
BowLeven will fund two years of exploration at an estimated cost of $10 million in Block 11b extending over 14,000 square kilometers (5,400 square miles) in northwest Kenya, where U.K. explorer Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) made the country’s first oil discovery earlier this year, according to a statement today.
“This new acreage affords the company exposure to an exciting new hydrocarbon province for a minimal capital commitment,” BowLeven Chief Executive Officer Kevin Hart said in the statement.
The block covers the Loeli, Lotikipi, Gatome and South Gatome basins, north of the Lokichar basin where Tullow’s Ngamia-1 well found oil in March this year. Geological analysis suggests the basins are similar to Lokichar, BowLeven said.
“The two companies have complementary technical and operational skill sets and we can draw upon the outstanding track record of BowLeven’s technical team in Cameroon,” Adamantine Energy’s CEO Chris Matchette-Downes said.