10th Apr 2007 07:01
BowLeven Plc10 April 2007 10 April 2007 BowLeven plc ("BowLeven" or "the Company") Farm-out of Epaemeno PSC BowLeven announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary GGPC Gabon (Epaemeno) Ltdhas entered into an agreement with Addax Petroleum Epaemeno Ltd, a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Addax Petroleum Corporation ("Addax Petroleum"), to farm-out halfof its existing 100% interest in the Production Sharing Contract ("PSC")covering the 1,340 km2 Epaemeno Block located onshore Gabon. Under the terms ofthe PSC, the assignment requires the consent of the Government of Gabon. In return for being assigned a 50% interest, Addax Petroleum has committed tospend the first $20 million of gross exploration costs on the block, equivalentto a $10 million carry for BowLeven. In addition, in the event of a commercialdiscovery, Addax Petroleum has committed to spend the first $16 million ofdevelopment costs, equivalent to an $8 million carry for BowLeven. It is intended that Addax Petroleum will become Operator of the PSC and thatBowLeven will provide technical support under a Technical Service Agreement("TSA"). Under the TSA BowLeven will retain the role of carrying out seismicinterpretation and will be responsible for proposing the location of explorationdrilling to the joint venture. Work is currently being undertaken to reprocess and re-interpret an old 2Dseismic dataset which exists over the Epaemeno contract area. Based on theoutcome of this work BowLeven and Addax will decide whether it is necessary toacquire further seismic prior to proceeding with exploration drilling. Addax Petroleum has interests in two adjoining blocks directly to the South ofthe Epaemeno contract area. Both of these blocks contain existing discoveries. Commenting on the transaction Kevin Hart, BowLeven's CEO, said: "We are delighted to bring in Addax Petroleum as our partner in Epaemeno. Theirextensive experience and technical knowledge of the area will augment our ownand should enhance our chances of making a commercial discovery on the acreage." Commenting today, Addax Petroleum's President and Chief Executive Officer, JeanClaude Gandur, said: "The addition of the Epaemeno license area to ourexploration portfolio in Gabon is in line with our strategy of building out fromour existing properties and operating infrastructure. We are delighted topartner with BowLeven and, as the intended operator of Epaemeno, believe thatexploration activity can be integrated effectively with our ongoing developmentand exploration activities in Gabon." ENQUIRIES For further information contact: BowLeven plc John Brown, Finance Director 00 44 131 260 5100Peter Wilson, Commercial DirectorEd Willett, Deputy Exploration Director Brunswick Group LLP Patrick Handley 00 44 207 404 5959Deborah Spencer Notes to the Editor: BowLeven is an African oil and gas group, based in Edinburgh and traded on AIMsince December 2004. BowLeven holds, through its wholly-owned subsidiary EurOil Limited, a 100%equity interest in the Etinde Permit area being three shallow water blocks inoffshore Cameroon, West Africa; namely Blocks MHLP 5, MHLP 6 and MHLP 7. Intotal BowLeven has approximately 2,300 km2 of exploration acreage located acrossthe Rio del Rey and Douala basins in the Etinde Permit. Bowleven has operated inCameroon since 1999. The Cameroon Government has recently announced a cooperation agreement with theGovernment of Equatorial Guinea to investigate a project to export gas fromCameroon to the gas liquefaction plant on Bioko Island on Equatorial Guinea. Itis proposed that Limbe would be the gathering hub for any such scheme. BowLeven also holds, following the completion of this transaction, through itswholly-owned subsidiary FirstAfrica Oil, a 100% equity interest in the EOVoffshore block in Gabon, which contains an existing oil discovery that it isseeking to develop, and a 50% equity interest in the Epaemeno Block which is1,340 km2 of exploration acreage in onshore Gabon which sits next to a number ofrecent discoveries in surrounding blocks. About Addax Petroleum Addax Petroleum is an international oil and gas exploration and productioncompany with a strategic focus on Africa and the Middle East. Addax Petroleum isone of the largest independent oil producers in West Africa and has increasedits crude oil production from an average of 8,800 bbl/d for 1998 to an averageof approximately 108,000 bbl/d for the fourth quarter of 2006. Furtherinformation about Addax Petroleum is available at www.addaxpetroleum.com or atwww.sedar.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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