Heavy hitter searches for global reach

Al Njoo, chairman of the heavy oil-focused Benchmark Group and its subsidiary Madagascar Oil, is seeking to put the Indian Ocean island on the global hydrocarbons map

Al Njoo has been in the heavy oil business for three decades. His latest venture, Madagascar Oil, is on the verge of ramping up production from a pilot scheme on the world’s fourth largest island. His ambitions are larger still—turning Madagascar into major exporter and regional trading hub venue. The Indonesian is also principle of Singapore-based Benchmark Group, which owns a controlling stake in Madagascar Oil. Benchmark’s first three stream flood projects were developed by its Calgary-based subsidiaries Nations Energy and Nations Petroleum—of which Njoo was the founder and a director—in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and California. The Kazakh asset was acquired in 1997 via a privatisation. “Whe