Cameroon News: Bowleven Discovers Greater Hydrocarbon Deposits in Sapele 3

In what could amount to a splendid development for the Republic of Cameroon economy, crude oil and natural gas exploration company Bowleven (BLVN) has revealed a new breakthrough at its Sapele-3 off-shore discovery well on Thurday.

With a total depth of 4,480 meters, an additional eight meters of net hydrocarbon pay has been discovered in the deeper reservoirs, over and above the earlier discovery of 11 meters of net pay within the Deep Omicron interval.

The AIM-listed company said, in a recently released statement, that the reservoir package discovered in Paleocene Epsilon Complex in Cameroon is a basal sand reservoir unit and is identical to the original Sapele-1 well in terms of the gross stratigraphic interval.

For the time being, entry to the discovery well has been temporarily stopped, as there is a promise for future re-entry, testing and the potential of a development well, which bodes well for Cameroon.

This discovery of substantial hydrocarbon intervals at multiple levels makes the Sapele-3 discovery well the fourth consecutive successful exploration project in the Douala Basin.

Bowleven Chief Executive Kevin Hart, addressing investors and representatives from various Cameroon news journals, said that the discoveries “have at each level extended considerably the previously defined play fairway boundaries.”

He also expressed optimism that the wealth of geological and other technical data obtained during the extended drilling operations would make a significant contribution to future prospecting endeavors in Cameroon by reducing the unknown factor and hence the element of risk in new appraisal locations. He also said the data would act as a guideline of sorts for development and exploitation planning in the future.

Bowleven, in its schedule, has chalked out a 2012 work programme for prospecting that would see them taking up to three more appraisal wells and one exploration well on the Etinde permit.

If the exploration leads to further discovery of crude or natural gas deposits, it could well spell a great deal of liquidity for the economy of Cameroon.