LONDON and NEW YORK, July 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Madagascar Oil Limited (MOL), Madagascar's leading onshore oil and gas company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Alex Archila as joint Chief Executive Officer, effective July 27, 2006. The roles and responsibilities of CEO will be held jointly with current CEO and company founder Sam Malin during an interim period.
MOL's Chairman, Robert Nelson commented: "Alex's 24 years of international oil and gas operations will add tremendous value to MOL. His proven leadership, strategic thinking and commercial expertise will help continue setting the right direction for creating maximum value from our assets for all stakeholders."
Sam Malin said: "With Alex's appointment we have strengthened the leadership team at MOL in line with the growing potential and ongoing development of our licenses. Alex brings with him exploration, production and commercial expertise. In particular, his experience with large asset transactions and with heavy oil operations in Canada and South America will add a new dimension to our team. I am confident that Alex will continue leveraging the momentum that the MOL team has already established and will add to the very significant value already created by the management team. I am looking forward to helping transition Alex fully into the CEO role over the coming months and to assuming, in due course, the role of President of Madagascar Oil Ltd. and President Director General of Madagascar Oil SA with specific responsibility, amongst others, for government and parastatal relationships in Madagascar."
"I look forward to working closely with Sam and the team he has built in meeting the challenges of taking Madagascar Oil to the next stage as we proceed with development of the company's considerable assets," said Alex Archila. "Madagascar is one of the most exciting untapped energy opportunities in the world, offering both great exploration potential and significant discovered resources. The combination of heavy oil, conventional oil, gas for steam generation and even surface mining potential, make Madagascar especially attractive and is drawing interest from major oil companies around the world. With the largest onshore acreage, longstanding relationships and deep understanding of the country, Madagascar Oil is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of exploration and development of Madagascar's energy resources."
Alex Archila joins MOL from Chevron Limited where he served as President during the past four years. During that period, he was also a member of Chevron Corporation's Management Committee. In his position Mr. Archila was responsible for Chevron Canada's 90,000 gross boed of production, onshore and offshore exploration together with marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. In prior roles, Mr. Archila was President of ChevronTexaco Colombia where he managed a 500 MMSCFD offshore natural gas production and marketing operation and was Director of Texaco's Houston based International Acquisitions and Divestitures group. Mr. Archila has served on several industry and non-profit boards including the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAAP), the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), The Glenbow Museum and the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Conference (HENAAC).
About Madagascar Oil
Headquartered in London and domiciled in Bermuda, Madagascar Oil Ltd. is an oil and gas exploration and production company focusing on the development of onshore heavy oil fields and exploration of onshore conventional oil and gas prospects in Madagascar. Through its subsidiaries, Madagascar Oil SA and Majunga Oil SARL, Madagascar Oil holds production sharing contracts (PSC) for oil and gas exploration and development on six onshore blocks covering nearly 53,000 square kilometers (20,500 sq mi) in Madagascar, including a heavy oil field at Tsimiroro and an ultra heavy oil field at Bemolanga. Madagascar Oil and its management team are committed to supporting the country of Madagascar's efforts to develop its oil and gas resources in an efficient and environmentally sensitive manner and to contributing actively to the social and economic advancement of the island nation.