BOWLEVEN has made a second find in quick succession in West Africa.

The Edinburgh-based oil and gas company said the Moambe well on the Bomono permit in Cameroon had econountered hydrocarbons, without giving any estimate of the potential size of the find.

The company made the strike two months after its Zingana well made a find, which it has not quantified.

By making two finds close together onshore Bowleven may have increased the chances they could form the basis of a viable development, with the fields sharing production facilities.

Bowleven’s chief executive Kevin Hart noted the company is in talks with the local electricity company Eneos and the Actis private equity business about a plan to supply a gas-to-power development scheme, if testing indicates the finds are big enough.

“The advanced discussions with Actis and Eneo regarding a gas-to-power scheme to supply the nearby Cameroon national grid, demonstrates the strengthened commercial environment for the timely monetisation of success at Bomono,” said Mr Hart.

But with shares in Bowleven falling 0.75p to close at 23p yesterday investors appeared to give news of the find a cool response.

Following the slump in the crude price since June last year oil and gas firms may struggle to justify investing in all but the biggest developments.

However, the success will burnish Bowleven’s credential as an exploration firm.

The company has noted there have been numerous oil seeps on the Bomono permit but the area is largely unexplored by modern exploration methods.

The Moambe find continues a good run for the firm, which has overcome some big challenges under Mr Hart's leadership.

In March Bowleven secured $250m (£165m) funding after completing a deal to sell interests in the Etinde permit offshore Cameroon to the country’s New Age and Russia’s Lukoil.

The sale, agreed before the oil price started tumbling, left Bowleven sitting on a big cash pile at a time when some sector players are struggling to service debts taken on during the boom that ended last year.

Mr Hart left his job as finance director of Cairn Energy to take charge at Bowleven in 2006 after the company had suffered setbacks in attempting to prove up the potential of its acreage off Cameroon.

In December 2008 an analyst said Bowleven was effectively dead in the water given the challenges it faced raising capital amid volatility at the time in oil and gas and financial markets.

Bowleven has retained a 20 per cent stake in Etinde permit and is working with New Age and Lukoil on plans to bring finds on the permit into production.

It also has early stage exploration interests in Kenya and Zambia.