SUNPEC HIRES ANDRY RAJOELINA’S FATHER

China is nowadays among the most important investors on the oil sector in Madagascar. A Chinese company named SUNPEC (Sino Union Petrolium Corporation) is among of them. This company, which belongs to the wealthy Hong Kong businessman Dr. Hui Chi Ming, invests in Madagascar through four oil drilling companies: Madagascar Energy International Ltd (MEIL), Madagascar Petroleum International, Madagascar North Petroleum, and Madagascar North Petroleum.

Recently, SUNPEC has hired Mr. Yves-Roger Rajoelina as “special counsellor”. Yves-Roger Rajoelina is a retired colonel of the Malagasy army and is the father of Andry Nirina Rajoelina, the president of the transition. This choice appears to be very strategic for SUNPEC and its businesses in Madagascar because it has announced on October to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HK Ex) that it has discovered a huge quantity of oil in its oil block n°: 3,113. The company which runs the 3,113 oil block, Kaiyuan Petroleum (a sub-contractor of SUNPEC) discovered on October 08th, 2009 a light good quality oil in the depth of 3,286 meters. Due to such discovery, the drilling operations were taken back. The drilling was initially scheduled to reach 3,980 meters but has been stopped due to problems of pressure.

SUNPEC holds 43.42% of 3,113 oil block. Hong Kong & China Gas holds 32.8%, and Yanchang 23.78%. SUNPEC also runs three other oil blocks: 2,101 – 2,104 – 3,112. Dr. Hui Chi Ming is the owner of a bank in Madagascar: BICM (International Bank China Madagascar).