Dr Carole Nakhle

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Dr Carole Nakhle is an international authority on global energy issues, in particular in the fields of policy, finance, market development, governance, energy taxes and fiscal regimes as well as geopolitics. 

With a unique breadth of experience spanning different stakeholders in the energy industry all around the world, Dr Nakhle has worked with major energy companies (Eni and Equinor) at the executive level, governments and policy makers (including Special Parliamentary Advisor in the UK), international organisations, academic institutions and specialised think tanks on a global scale.

She is active on the Governing Board of the Natural Resource Governance Institute and is a Member of its Audit and Finance Committee. She is also Member of the Advisory Boards of the Middle East Institute and the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines. She is a Lead Energy Expert with the Geopolitical Intelligence Services in Liechtenstein, and Associate Fellow at Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs in Beirut. 

Dr Nakhle has played an integral part in the OECD Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development and has contributed to the development of the organisation’s Principles for Durable Extractive Contracts. She has lectured at leading academic institutions, including: the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, Dundee University and University of Surrey in the UK, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, the National Defense University in the USA and Nato Strategic Direction South Hub in Italy.

An avid supporter of gender balance, in 2007, Dr Nakhle founded the not-for-profit organisation ‘Access for Women in Energy’, with the aim of promoting the development of women in the energy sector. She has supported the development of similar initiatives in Ghana, Tunisia and the UAE, where she sits on ADIPEC’s Advisory Board for Inclusion and Diversity. She also provides mentoring support to young people around the world.

Her views on energy matters are highly regarded, with numerous articles in academic journals, newspapers and magazines to her credit. 

Dr Nakhle is an avid commentator on energy and geopolitics in the international media and major conferences and industry gatherings, in many countries.

She has appeared on Africa News, Al Arabiyya, Al Jazeera, Asharq, BBC, Bloomberg, CGTN, CNBC, CNN, DW News, France 24, and Sky News, among others. She has also been quoted in leading publications, such as Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, and interviewed by international magazines, including Marie Claire.

She has published two widely acclaimed books: Petroleum Taxation: Sharing the Wealth and Out of the Energy Labyrinth (co-authored with Lord David Howell, former Secretary of State for Energy in the UK). 

Dr Nakhle has worked on projects in many countries, collaborating closely with host governments, ministries, and parliaments, in addition to the private sector and civic society. She has also been on exploratory visits to the Arctic (organised by the Norwegian Government) and the North Sea.

She is fluent in Arabic, English and French. In 2017, she gave evidence to the International Relations Committee at the UK Parliament on oil markets, the transformation of power in the Middle East and implications for the UK policy.

Dr Nakhle’s work is recognised worldwide. In 2023, she was appointed as a Member of the Hydrogen Expert Committee for COP28 Energy Transition Changemakers – a COP28 UAE Presidency Initiative. In 2022, she featured in the ‘Top 22 Outstanding Women CEOs of 2022’ published by the New York-based The Women Leaders. A year earlier, she was selected CEO of the Year 2021 in the UK by CEO Monthly Magazine. In 2020, she was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Energy Institute and featured on the Energy Council’s list of Top Female Executives in the global energy industry. In 2017, she received the Honorary Professional Recognition Award from the Tunisian Minister of Energy, Mines & Renewable Energy.

She is the Executive Editor and Author of Newsweek’s special edition ‘New Technological Frontiers in the Oil and Gas Industry’ and the first Guest Blogger for Aspentech.

For a list of Dr Nakhle’s publications published work, click here >

Global recognition