A respected industry leader with more than 35 years of experience in the business of energy, Peter is the founder of the ARC Energy Research Institute. He is frequently called upon to share his knowledge of strategic issues with investors, corporate leaders, policymakers, and educators around the world. Most recently, Peter founded Studio.Energy, an initiative dedicated to mentoring the next generation of leaders to address the world’s complex energy challenges.
Peter is also a storyteller at heart, using a creative approach to distill, clarify, and communicate complicated issues regarding energy, economics and the environment. His presentations inspire, guide, and spark discussion on some of today’s most important topics. He’s written two international bestsellers — A Thousand Barrels a Second and The End of Energy Obesity. His most recent book, The Investor Visit and Other Stories, is a collection of creative non-fiction exploring how our energy past can help us navigate our energy future which sparked a CBC podcast series called Disruption.
In 2023, Peter launched Those Who Have Seen the Invention Pronounce It Wonderful, a visual art exhibition using his personal collection of vintage lightbulbs as inspiration for a pop-art exploration of innovation and disruption in lighting. The exhibition has been shown in two galleries, including Heritage Park, a living history museum in Calgary.
Peter served as Chair of the Board of Contemporary Calgary, a public contemporary art gallery, from 2019 to 2023. He currently sits on the board of the National Gallery Foundation in Ottawa.
He has an undergraduate degree in Geophysics from the University of Alberta, a graduate degree in Econometrics from the University of Southampton, UK and a Master of Science in Management of Technology from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.