In 2006, Alex Archila left Chevron, where he had spent 24 years rising through the ranks to become president of its Canadian operations. He became chief executive of Madagascar Oil, a company with fewer than 100 employees, where his responsibilities included everything from speaking to investors to talking engineers through fixing oil wells.
At the time, it was a trend for experienced executives, enticed by record commodity prices, to form – or agree to run – start-ups to directly tap oil and gas fields that were too small or mature for the majors to deal with. They were paid outlandish salaries, with backers looking to oil at $100 a barrel and beyond.
