Bond busy spruiking Madagascar Oil venture Alan Bond is hunting for another fortune. The Age | January 24, 2005 http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Bond-busy-spruiking-Madagascar-Oil-venture/2005/01/23/1106415455923.html?oneclick=true Alan Bond is banking on a big return from African oil, write Sean Cowan and Rania Ghandour. The good oil on Alan Bond's newest venture is that his reported boast that it's a "huge thing . . . a bloody monster" is no exaggeration. Mr Bond, who spent the first few weeks of the new year in Perth spruiking Madagascar Oil, has refused to reveal details of the project, but investigations by The West Australian have revealed that the British company behind it is closely related to a company involved in the struggling Lesotho Diamond Corporation that Mr Bond spruiked last summer. And the businessman who runs Madagascar Oil believes it holds the rights to the biggest oilfields in Africa - capable of producing 75 billion barrels of oil. The only question left to be answered is what Mr Bond stands to gain. Mr Bond has refused to discuss his interest in the project and Sam Malin, the Canadian-born managing director of Madagascar Oil who works out of the London office of the Vuna group of companies, did little to shed any light on the matter. AdvertisementAdvertisement "He doesn't have a role in Madagascar Oil," he said. "He has no role in Madagascar Oil at all. I'll have to read your coverage. I know you had an article a week or two ago but I haven't seen it. I'll take a look at that." Mr Malin said none of Mr Bond's relatives had a role in Madagascar Oil and he was not aware of the involvement of Vuna Capital in the Lesotho project, where it is a capital partner. Then his mobile telephone cut out as his train passed into London's underground system. But Madagascar Oil administrative and financial manager Alain Razafinimanana said the Perth entrepreneur held shares in Vuna Energy, the company backing Madagascar Oil, which is also run by Mr Malin and is related to Vuna Capital. "He (Mr Bond) works with us in the role of shareholder," he said. "He finances our activity here in Madagascar. He is part of the company which finances Madagascar Oil. "I'm not sure of the exact composition of the shareholders, but I know he is part of the holding company called Vuna which finances Madagascar Oil. He's never been here. Up until now, we've never seen him in Madagascar." Mr Malin had been only too happy to talk about Madagascar Oil's plans, claiming the board was looking at ways of raising capital, hinting it could float on London's Alternative Investment Market. "It's a big project and most companies would bring in a technical partner with complementary technical expertise, so that's something to keep in mind as well," he said. "We are in the middle of negotiations at the moment. Personally I can tell you we are likely to be able to give to the public more details in February." He also revealed that the company was looking at conventional oil reserves but was excited about its chances of exploiting heavy reserves. "What makes the project in Madagascar exceptional is that the volumes of those heavy oil reserves are absolutely massive," he said. "It depends on who you speak to as to the opinion on how much they are but they are certainly dozens of billions of barrels." WEST AUSTRALIAN ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/S.QlOD/3MnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> �������������������������������������������������������� This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join ==theZESTcommunity====================================== [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
