BOWLEVEN, the oil and gas firm which moved its headquarters from Edinburgh to London last year following a boardroom cull, has started drilling off Cameroon.

The company is drilling the first of two appraisal wells planned for the Etinde permit this year.

Up to $40 million of the company’s costs will be carried by New Age of Cameroon and Russia’s Lukoil under the $250m stake sale negotiated by former chief executive Kevin Hart in 2014.

Mr Hart was voted off the board along with four other directors in March last year after a campaign for change led by the Crown Ocean Capital Investment firm.

New chief executive Eli Chahin said yesterday: “The appraisal program … aims to further improve the already robust economics for future development of this world class asset.”