Friedhelm Eronat

Friedhelm Eronat (born 1953 in Prien (Germany), the son of Anna and Josef Eronat, is a Geneva-based millionaire business leader mainly involved in oil trading, exploration and production. Eronat is one of the world's most successful oil dealmakers. His estimated wealth is over $100m (£55m), built on deals in places such as Nigeria, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Eronat studied production management and oil engineering at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, graduating in early 1970s. He then entered the international oil business.

In 2003 Friedhelm Eronat renounced US citizenship and became a British citizen.

A Channel 4 investigative report in 2005 asserts that Eronat founded the Cliveden Group, which in 2003 established a large stake in a consortium which acquired exploration rights in Darfur from the Sudanese Government. The website for Advanced Petroleum Company of Sudan lists Cliveden Group as one of its principal shareholders, as of May 2006.