Bermuda-registered Madagascar Oil Limited awarded options to Chretien in July 2007 as a consulting fee, according to documents in the Appleby files. Madagascar Oil was formed to explore and drill for oil in Madagascar and shares revenue with the government there. Madagascar Oil went public in November 2010 at a valuation of $284 million.
Madagascar Oil Limited was shareholder of two companies registered in 2004 and 2010 in Mauritius. One of them, Madagascar Oil Services Ltd. was created to “be a holding company of a group of companies involved in the exploration and development of heavy oil”.
The Appleby files contain no evidence that Chretien exercised the options.
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