British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Premier Oil and Maersk Oil are just a few of the heavyweights of the oil industry that the Government’s newly appointed advisor,Matthew Wilks, has worked with.
Although most of his 32 years of experience in the sector comes from serving the interests of the world’s oil giants, the coalition administration will be relying on Wilks to be a key advisor in its Department of Energy.
In a missive to the media today, the Government described its new employee as an “experienced oil and gas business developer and negotiator.”
The Australian has worked in the global oil and gas industry, spanning all segments of the energy value chain including exploration and production, liquid natural gas, pipeline transportation, power generation, and project financing.
According to the government release, Wilks previously held management responsibility for international asset management and joint venture operations. They said, “During his career, he has worked for, or opposite, several heads of state, other senior government officials and senior corporate executives.” The missive did not name one government official or head of state that Wilks has served.
But government provided names of the numerous countries Wilks has worked in. These include Asia, East Africa, and Europe. The government also said that Wilks held corporate portfolio responsibility for assets in Central Asia, the Levant, and North Africa.
Further to this, Wilks was Chief Commercial Officer at Maersk Oil from 2013 up to January this year. During that time, he was involved in various projects in Angola, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Norway, and Qatar.
Before that, Wilks worked at BG Group where he was Country Manager for Tanzania from June 2010 to December 2012 at the time of significant offshore discoveries and rapid sector development there. He worked on projects in Bolivia, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, and Thailand, also at BG Group. In fact, he worked at BP in various positions from 1986 to 1988. He also spent time at Conoco Philips from 2002 to 2006 before returning to BP in 2007.
Wilks, who spent some of his childhood in Kenya, holds a BSc. Tripartite in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry and a BSc. Hons in Applied Physics from Robert Gordons University, Aberdeen.
Seven months ago, the 55-year-old opened his own oil and gas consultancy firm, Spring Stone Energy Limited. It is based in England. His wife, Amanda Wilks, is the Secretary and Finance Manager of the company.
