(Business in Cameroon) - The exploration licence of the British oil and gas firm Bowleven, operating the Bomono permit covering two blocks of 2,328 km in the Douala basin, located in the Cameroonian onshore, has been extended to 12 December 2018, the company announced in an official communiqué. This permit expired on 12 December 2016, after two prior extensions granted in December 2014 and 2015.

This new extension of Bowleven’s permit on Bomono, we officially learned, will help protect the interests of the British firm over the area in question, while awaiting the verdict of the Cameroonian government on the application submitted by Bowleven for a gas operating licence since November 2015, year during which the British oil and gas company drilled two wells (Zingana and Moambe) in Bomono, wells which confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons.

The oil and gas company moreover announced, that “the ministry’s approval for the extension of the permit having been now received, the process for the operating permit will follow, as stipulated by the Cameroonian authorities”.

As a reminder, on 8 January 2016, this British firm announced having completed the extended flow trials on the Moambe and Zingana wells. “The results to date still support the plans for an initial offer of 5 to 6 mmscfd gas to produce electricity based on the development plan establishment with Actis and Eneo in Cameroon (concessionaire of the electricity service)”, repeated Bowleven. Brice R. Mbodiam