About ODAC

The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) is an independent, UK-registered educational charity working to raise international public awareness and promote better understanding of the world's oil-depletion problem.

ODAC was founded in June 2001 on the belief that an informed public debate about the likely impacts of depleting oil supplies is critically needed. A growing number of experts now predict that world oil production will reach its ultimate peak within a few years and then start permanently to decline, while the prevailing view of most energy policy-makers and institutions is that near-term oil supply is mainly an economic and geopolitical concern. Under almost any scenario, however, lead time is running short for a smooth transition to new energy systems and a less oil-dependent way of life.

ODAC aims to engage public interest, stimulate concern and create momentum for progressive change in energy policy and planning. We seek to do this by:

  • disseminating available information as effectively as possible to news media, other opinion-formers and leaders, interest groups, and the public at large;
  • facilitating information exchanges between and among interested parties; and
  • monitoring developments in oil-depletion analysis, maintaining an up-to-date information base, and offering an advisory service on oil-depletion issues.

Trustees

Sarah Astor

Co-founder of ODAC and of another UK charity that helps political refugees (Asylum Aid), she was formerly a trustee of a research charity dedicated to sustainable land-use, agriculture and food systems (Elm Farm Research Centre).

Colin Campbell

Former Executive Vice President, Fina Exploration, Norway, he is Chairman and Founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) and Visiting Scientist at Uppsala University in Sweden. He has published three books and numerous articles on oil depletion.

Julian Darley 

Julian Darley is founder and president of Post Carbon Institute and Global Public Media. He is the author of High Noon for Natural Gas: the New Energy Crisis (2004). Julian has an MSc in Environment and Social Research from University of Surrey in the UK, an MA in Journalism and Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in Music & Russian. Julian currently lives in Sebastopol, California, USA.

Richard Hardman, CBE

With over 40 years’ experience working for major oil companies, including 10 years at BP, 11 years at AMOCO, and 18 years at Amerada Hess, he is now a Director of FX Energy, where he is Technical Adviser, and Atlantic Petroleum (UK) Ltd. He is a former President of the Geological Society, Member of the Natural Environment Research Council and Chairman of the Science and Innovation Strategy Board . He was made a CBE in the 1998 New Years Honours for services to the oil and gas industry.

Roger Harrison

Formerly chairman of a media investment and property company, he was also a non-executive director of three major media companies and chief executive of The Observer newspaper. He is a trustee of several charities, including a social service charity (Toynbee Hall) and Elm Farm Research Centre.

Jeremy Leggett

Jeremy Leggett is founder and chairman of Solarcentury, the UK's largest solar solutions company. He was a member of the government's Renewables Advisory Board (2002-6) and has worked in the oil industry and in the environment movement. He is author of The Carbon War (1999) and Half Gone (2005) which cover climate change and peak oil.

Christopher Patey, MBE (Chairman )

Formerly Head of Public Affairs, Mobil North Sea Limited and author of a book on the history of the company. He is currently Treasurer of the Friends of Southwark Cathedral, and a trustee of the Jubilee Walkway and of Chelsea Opera Group.

Chris Skrebowski Editor of Petroleum Review, a monthly magazine published by the Energy Institute in London, he formerly edited Petroleum Economist and was an oil market analyst for the Saudis for eight years. He started his career in the oil industry as a long-term planner for BP, then joined Petroleum Times as a journalist and edited an offshore magazine in the late 1970s.

David Strahan David Strahan is an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, with many years experience of popularising some of the most difficult and important stories in business and science. He quit the BBC to spend two years researching and writing The Last Oil Shock: A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man, to be published by John Murray Ltd in April 2007.

Advisers

An International Advisory Board of distinguished individuals with a broad range of perspectives and expertise supports our work. Its members (affiliations for identification only) are:

Brian Fleay Institute of Sustainability & Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Australia.

Byron W. King Former geologist, now practicing attorney. Contributing Editor, Whiskey & Gunpowder. USA. Jean Laherrère Former Deputy Exploration Manager, Total Oil Company, France.

Ray Leonard Senior Vice President, International Upstream Activities, MOL Plc, Hungary.

Susanne Peters Senior Fellow, Political Science Department, Giessen University, Germany.

Mamdouh G Salameh International oil economist and consultant to the World Bank on energy affairs, UK.

Matthew Simmons Chairman, Simmons & Company International (energy investment firm), USA.

Walter Ziegler Exploration Consultant, Switzerland.

Funding

ODAC is currently funded by multi-year charitable contributions from two UK grant-making trusts. Top ^ Last updated: 22-June-07