bowlevens new partner is ............

LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Africa-focused oil & gas explorer BowLeven Plc (BLVN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would look for a partner to help fund its Block 7 project offshore Cameroon -- potentially a $1 billion development.

"We will look for someone with the right balance between political clout in the area and technical expertise ... It is a reasonable assumption this will happen in 2008," Chief Executive Kevin Hart told Reuters in an interview.

BowLeven has drilled three wells on the asset this year with varying degrees of success, and Hart said the firm would drill at least one more to prove the area could operate as a stand-alone concern.