01-08-08 Bowleven announced it had struck oil off West Africa, although a sector expert said it was too soon to tell if the find was significant.
Edinburgh-based Bowleven said the IF-1r well drilled offshore Cameroon had encountered a "potentially significant" light oil column which appeared to extend for at least 200 feet. The company said it would have to complete further testing to assess the significance of the accumulation.

Previous exploration success has been limited to gas and condensate, which are less valuable than oil. Richard Slape, an analyst at brokerage Canaccord, said Bowleven would have to complete much more work before it could tell whether the find had any value. Slape noted the discovery had been made by a well that was targeting gas and condensate.
A well drilled by Bowleven in the area of IF-1r had to be abandoned last year because of well control issues following what the company said was a significant gas kick. Bowleven said it would have to redraw its models of the area.

Further testing could result in a wide range of possible outcomes. For example, it was possible that the find might be an oil rim on a very big gas and condensate field or a tiny pocket of oil.
Slape said that oil and gas firms had lost ground on investor fears that oil has been trading at unsustainably high levels. Market sentiment has favoured firms with proven reserves and production. Bowleven does not have any production and has not booked any reserves for its acreage in Cameroon and Gabon.

The company raised £ 55 mm at 650 pence per share in October 2005, before suffering two costly drilling set-backs under former management, led by Philip Rhind.
He was dismissed for alleged gross misconduct in February 2006.