A couple of years ago, industry pundits expressed serious doubts that EA could protect its precious independence after Malaysian state oil company Petronas muscled in on its parent company Engen. However, the critics have been proven wrong, and Bentley insists the marriage is working well and realising important synergies for growth. Bentley joined South African energy combine Engen in 1993 and was instrumental in founding Energy Africa and floating it on the Johannesburg stock exchange three years later.