Influential women share their perspectives on the oil and gas industries. With Deirdre Michie, Chief Executive of Oil & Gas UK, Colette Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, The Oil & Gas Technology Centre, artist Sue Jane Taylor and writer and commentator Esther Woolfson.

Deirdre Michie, Chief Executive, Oil & Gas UK
Deirdre was appointed CEO of Oil and Gas UK in May 2015. She has an LLB Hons in Scots Law and has extensive experience as a senior business leader in the oil and gas industry; covering upstream, downstream and globally. She is a member of MER, the UK Government and Industry forum, and is also on the UK Treasury’s Oil Industry Fiscal Forum. Deirdre is a board member of Opportunity North East, is a Non-Executive Board member of Scottish Water and is Chair of Common Data Access Limited. Deirdre is also a member of the Women’s Business Council, a UK Government body focused on increasing women’s contribution to economic growth and is also Sponsor of AXIS.

Before joining Oil & Gas UK Deirdre worked for Shell’s downstream operations initially, undertaking a variety of roles before moving to Shell’s upstream operations as a Senior Commercial Negotiator. Her next roles were as External Affairs Manager for Shell’s UK upstream operations and Communications Manager for its European business, Contracting and Procurement Manager for Europe and from 2011 to 2013 she managed a global team delivering a multi-billion annual strategic sourcing programme.

Married with two sons, Deirdre enjoys reading, cycling, skiing, running, watching ballet and rugby!

Colette Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, The Oil & Gas Technology Centre
The Oil & Gas Technology Centre is a new industry-led organisation based in Aberdeen, backed by the UK and Scottish governments, and working closely with the local universities.

The centre has two goals: to help maximise economic recovery from the UK continental shelf and create a bright future for the northeast of Scotland as a global technology hub.

Colette was Senior Vice President for Centrica Energy’s Exploration and Production business in the UK and The Netherlands until July 2016. Her career began with BP in 1991 and she has worked for companies including ConocoPhillips and Britannia in the North Sea, Norway, the US and Kazakhstan.

Colette is a chemistry graduate from Queens University Belfast and also holds a masters degree in Project Management and Economics. She is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Institute of Directors and Chairs the National College for Onshore Oil and Gas.

Esther Woolfson, Writer
Esther Woolfson, a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, is author of the acclaimed ‘Corvus, A Life With Birds’ and ‘Field Notes from a Hidden City,’ which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize and the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. She has been Artist in Residence at Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Writer in Residence at Hexham Book Festival. Her Radio 3 essay in the ‘Cornerstones’ series on North Sea oil and gas, was broadcast on January 10th, 2018., and will be included in an anthology of the series to be published by Little Toller books in summer, 2018. An Honorary Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Aberdeen University, she is working on a new book about human attitudes towards the natural world.

In partnership with University of Aberdeen

Free, but advance booking required.