Chris Skrebowski

Petroleum consultant and former editor

He was born in 1946 in the north of England and after school went on to university where he studies maths and science before takinga degree in economics. He then joined BP as a graduate trainee, working in the planning department, which gave him an overview of the oil business. That led him in 1973, at the time of the first oil shock, to become an oil journalist. In 1985, he joined the Centre for Global Energy Studies in London, which had been established by Sheik Yamani of Saudi Arabia, where he worked as an oil analyst. In 1994, he returned to journalism as editor of the Petroleum Economist, and his attention was drawn to the issue of Peak Oil. An initial scepticism gradually gave way to a firm conviction as he investigated the situation in depth. Later, he moved to the Institute of Petroleum in London as editor of the Petroleum Review, but came under some pressure from the oil industry and government to avoid the unpopular subject of oil depletion. He persevered and later played a prominent part in the growing ASPO organisation, giving lectures at its many conferences around the world. He helped form a task-force, backed by important industrialists in the UK, dedicated to raising awareness of the issue. He has now retired from the Institute of Petroleum but continues to work as a Peak Oil consultant.

Working and talking about Peak Oil sometimes feels a little too much like the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” in which a weatherman repeatedly relives the same day.