Colin Campbell has over 40 years of experience in the oil industry. He earned a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Oxford in 1957 and had worked as a petroleum geologist in the field, as a manager, and as a consultant.
He has been employed by Oxford University, Texaco, British Petroleum, Amoco, Shenandoah Oil, Norsk Hydro, and Fina, and has worked with the Bulgarian and Swedish governments. His writing credits include two books and more than 150 papers.
Colin is now a Trustee of the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (“ODAC”) in the United Kingdom, a charitable organization in London that is dedicated to researching the date and impact of the peak and decline of world oil production due to resource constraints and raising awareness of the serious consequences. He has published extensively, and his recent articles have stimulated lively debate. His views are provocative yet carry the weight of a wide international experience.
Colin Campbell: “Understanding depletion is simple. Think of an Irish pub. The glass starts full and ends empty. There are only so much more drinks to closing time. It’s the same with oil. We have to find the bar before we can drink what’s in it.
Works and publications
Colin has written a long list of various publications, books, articles and other things related to peak oil. You can find some of his works in our publication section. We will add more in the future as soon as we have the time to collect and compile his work.
Curriculum Vitae
- 1955-56 Geologist to Oxford University Expedition to Borneo, Geological field work, central Borneo
- 1956 Geologist (tmp), British Overseas Geological Surveys, Sarawak
Writing up the results for publication - 1957-61 Exploration Geologist, Texaco, Trinidad, Colombia
Geological field work - 1961-66 Regional Geologist, BP, Colombia
Regional evaluation and commercial appraisals - 1967-68 Regional Geologist, BP, Australia, New Guinea
Geological field work, central Papua, - 1968-69 Regional Geologist, Amoco, New York, Chicago
Regional evaluation of South America, search for opportunities, government negotiations - 1969-72 Chief Geologist, Amoco, Ecuador
Managing an exploration venture in the Amazon headwaters, much negotiation - 1972-78 General Manager, Shenandoah Oil, London, Dublin
Managing a small company secure a stake in UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey. Much negotiation with partners and government, recruited small staff - 1978 Adviser, Norsk Hydro, Oslo
Advising a major Norwegian company take a position in oil - 1978-79 Exploration Manager, Aran, Dublin
Managing exploration in two joint ventures off Ireland with BP and Deminex. Many colorful negotiations - 1979 Supervisor, New Ventures, Amoco, London
Return to mainstream oil industry, dealing with ventures in Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Malta - 1980-84 Exploration Manager, Amoco, Norway
Managing a major operating company’s exploration in Norway, finding first oil off mid-Norway - 1985-89 Executive Vice-President, Fina, Norway
Built up a new office, eventually with a staff of 60. Many negotiations with government and partners. Public relations. Secured new strong position in the Barents Sea, and elsewhere with major company partners. Increasing independence and contempt of head office led to “early retirement.” - 1989- Consultant to Amoco, Norway
Consultant to Norwegian Petroleum Directorate on world oil resources and depletion: study eventually published as the Golden Century of Oil Chairman, Nordic American Oil Co.
Formed new oil company with Norwegian and American capital to undertake infill drilling in old US fields. Eventually sold out.
Consulting to Bulgarian Government,
Advising government on fall of Communism how to attract western oil companies
Consulting to Statoil, Mobil, Amerada, Enterprise, Total, Pelican on oil resources;
Consulting to Shell, Esso, Mobil on N.Sea project
Consulting to Petroconsultants, Geneva
Wrote several major reports on oil depletion
Partner in Petroplan Inc
A consultancy concentrating on oil forecasting, write monthly column in Tomorrow’s Oil
Adviser to the board, Hampton Investments, San Francisco
Professional Affiliations
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Geological Society, London
Institute of Petroleum, London