I have worked in the oil industry as a geologist since graduating from the University of Wales in 1978 and am currently Exploration Director with Egdon Resources plc, having joined the company in 2014. Prior to Egdon, I worked for Northern Petroleum plc for eight years as Exploration Manager with responsibility for leading operated exploration and development ventures in the Netherlands, Italy and onshore UK. My earlier career was spent working for the New Orleans based independent oil company, L.L& E before joining LASMO (now part of ENI) in 1996. During this time I had the privilege to work with integrated technical teams covering the North Sea, North Africa and the South Atlantic. In 2012, I joined the Board of Union Jack Oil plc as a non-executive director, prior to its admission to AIM.

In 1982, when studying for my M.Sc. at Imperial College under the tutelage of Professor ‘Bob’ Stoneley and Dr. ‘Dick’ Selley, my student contemporaries and I were advised (very strongly!) that as well as purchasing ‘key’ academic text books, it was expected that we should all join the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain. With the benefit of hindsight, like much of what we were taught, the ‘guidance’ to join the PESGB has proven to be extremely beneficial to those of us associated with the oil and gas industry. As the society has evolved over the years, so has its role as a community organization that has promoted earth education in the petroleum industries.

It was whilst working for L.L. & E and later LASMO that I was elected to serve on the PESGB Executive Council as Director, Newsletter (as it was then, in 1989 and 1990) and Secretary (1997 and 1998). During my time as Newsletter Director, I compiled, with the help of Iain Bartholomew, the first PESGB map. Since then, the map has been updated every two years with publication coinciding with the PETEX conferences. In 2012 I was made an Honorary Life Member of the PESGB.

As President Elect, I would continue to build on the PESGB’s charitable ethos with a focus on supporting its community as the international industry continues to adjust to the challenges posed by lower commodity prices. The PESGB recognises the value of education and has established an internationally well respected reputation in promoting and sponsoring M.Sc. courses across different universities within the UK. Having benefited from an M.Sc. education and more recently acting as an external examiner for the Imperial College Petroleum Geoscience M.Sc; I would be a committed advocate in promoting the PESGB’s continued sponsorship of M.Sc. courses. My involvement with the North Sea Map has demonstrated to me the important role the PESGB has in ensuring connection with grassroots activities in schools and colleges. This, together with the PESGB’s support for the Earth Science Teachers’ Association in training teachers would be a significant focus for me if I were to be elected.

It would be a privilege to serve as President Elect on the PESGB Executive Council and I would commit to undertaking and upholding the values of the Society so that it continues to give to others as much as it has given to me over the course of my career to date.