Mike Holgate, BSc, MSc (Oxon)

Strategic Assessment and International Development (Associate)

Michael started working offshore as a roughneck before joining BP as a Drilling Fluids Engineer and then spent ten years as a Drilling Fluids Consultant, mainly offshore in the North Sea. He became involved in researching and developing greener approaches to drilling fluids with staff contracts within BP and Shell in the early 1990s. He went on to broaden his environmental skills as an associate with Heriot-Watt University's Institute of Offshore Engineering, mainly working on national and international EIAs.

In 1999, he joined the giant offshore Kazakhstan Kashagan project, based in The Hague, working on the safety and environmental risks of offshore drilling and production concepts, and in London as HSE & Sustainable Development Manager for the delivery of first oil. In 2003, he turned his attention to the emerging renewable energy sector and has since divided his time between marine renewable energy projects and EU sustainable energy & security projects in Central Asia, Caucasus and Black Sea regions.