Stuart Harker gained his BSc in Geology in 1972 from the University of London, followed by an MSc (1975) and PhD (1978) at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He joined Texaco as an exploration geologist in 1976, completing his PhD remotely. A company transfer to Aramco in Saudi Arabia followed in 1978, where he worked on both Mesozoic and the then new Palaeozoic plays. Stuart returned to Canada to work for Murphy Oil in 1980, responsible for exploration in Alberta and British Columbia.

The lure of international work led to him taking a job with Occidental in California in 1981, where he was Involved in the discovery and appraisal of Harriet, Jabiru and Blina fields in Western Australia; Dhurnal field in Pakistan and Safah field in Oman (400 MMBO reserves), becoming Chief Geologist for the Middle and Far East in 1982. In 1985 Stuart transferred to Occidental’s Aberdeen office and worked on the Producing Fields and Exploration of the UKCS including the discovery and appraisal of West Claymore, Saltire and Scapa oil fields (250 MMBO reserves). Elf bought Occidental’s UK assets in 1991 and Stuart worked in several management roles in Exploration and Development, before transferring to the Paris Headquarters in 1998 to work on International Prospect Evaluation.

In 2000 he moved back to Aberdeen following the Total takeover of Elf to be responsible for Exploration and Development around the operated North Sea fields, including the discovery of the Forvie North gas-condensate field (40 MMBOE reserves). Stuart joined Circle in 2008 and has been involved in the discovery and development of 13 gas fields in Morocco and two oil fields in Egypt, as well as the evaluation of multiple exploration and field redevelopment opportunities.