Jim Thomas, Ph.D.

Jim Thomas, Executive Director for the Energy Consulting Group at S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Jim is Executive Director of the S&P Global Commodity Insights Regulatory Compliance Consulting Group, with over 30 years of experience in environmental and regulatory management in the energy sector. Prior to joining S&P Global in 1999, Jim was a Senior Consultant with Petroconsultants, an Environmental Manager with Atkins Environment, a secondee to the UK Environment Agency and a Geochemical Analyst with BP. Within S&P Global, he has been responsible for the establishment and development of the regulatory consulting service, working on behalf of governments, national and international oil companies in over 40 different countries. Along with managing a team of legal and regulatory experts, he has been directly responsible for a wide range of different type of consulting services and assignments, each typically aimed at establishing best operational practices for governmental and non-governmental clients. The range of regulatory projects carried out includes compliance management system development, policy development, legal review and permit auditing, drafting petroleum legislation and H&S guidelines, fiscal benchmarking and analysis, negotiation support, licensing round management, technical due diligence and transaction support, organizational change and client training. The range of experience offered combined with consulting team expertise means that the Regulatory Group is well-placed to assist clients in making strategic and capital-intensive investment decisions.

Jim holds a B.Sc. (Hons) Geology Decree (University of Leeds, UK) and a Ph.D. in Organic Geochemistry (University of Bristol, UK). He is a Fellow of the Geological Society and a member of the AIPN.