Despite being newcomers to the industry, Zodan and Zudavi managed to team up with deep-water heavyweight Unocal and Italy's Eni for the Popodi and Papalang production sharing contracts off East Kalimantan, a partnership that one source attributes to Ananda's ties with Petronas.
Australia's Santos later took equity in the PSCs, where exploration drilling is scheduled to start this quarter.
Ananda's long-standing relationship with Malaysia's national oil company Petronas dates back to the 1970s, when he began work with them as an oil trader.
