Bowleven receives approval for equity interest in the Etinde

Oil and gas producer Bowleven said it has received approval for the farm-out of equity interest in the Etinde prospect from the Cameroon government.

The Africa-focused firm also added that it has signed a deal for a two-well exploration programme at Bonomo and that the Cameroon government has given the green light to the assignment of equity interests in Etinde to Russian oil company OAO Lukoil and NewAge (African Global Energy).

The firm said it was still awaiting for the approval of the Cameroon president’s office to complete the transaction, for which the company expects to receive a payment of $170m.

‘As a consequence of the transaction, we are ideally positioned to progress our assets and look forward to participating in two potentially high impact drilling campaigns within the next 12 months,’ said group chief executive Kevin Hart.

Bowleven said that it has secured a $30m short-term bridge facility from Australia’s Macquarie Bank in order to provide financial flexibility as it awaits the deal’s completion and that it was planning a drilling proogramme to estimate the potential value of the Intra Isongo interval.

On Monday, Bowleven shares closed down 5.43% to 30.50p.