Colin Barry Phipps (23 July 1934 – 10 January 2009) was a British
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
and chairman of several petroleum companies. From 1974 to 1979 he was a
Labour Party Member of Parliament, but in the 1980s he joined the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
.
Early life and studies
Colin Barry Phipps was born in Britain on 23 July 1934 at
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
. He attended Townfield Elementary School in Hayes,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, then
Acton County Grammar School Acton may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Acton
Australia
* Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie
* Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton
Canad ...
, and the
Bishop Gore School
The Bishop Gore School ( cy, Ysgol Esgob Gore) is a secondary school in Swansea in Wales, founded on 14 September 1682 by Hugh Gore (1613–1691), Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. It is situated in Sketty, close to Singleton Park and Swansea ...
, Swansea. From
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
he gained a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
i
Geologyin 1955; and a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
i
Geologyfrom the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
in 1957.
Career
Parliament
He stood in the
Walthamstow East by-election in March 1969, and lost decisively.
He served as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Dudley West from February 1974 to 1979, when he stood down. His successes in the oil industry made him one of the more wealthy Labour MPs. He joined the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
in the 1980s, and unsuccessfully stood for election in
Worcester at the 1983 general election, and
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
in 1987.
Geology
From 1957 to 1964 Phipps worked with
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard ou ...
in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and the United States.
In 1964, well before North Sea oil was known about, he left Shell and became an independent geology consultant and in 1973 he founded Clyde Petroleum, which had many involvements in
North Sea oil
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and ...
. While working with this company he was also an MP from 1974 to 1979. He became the company's chief executive from 1979 to 1983 and its chairman from 1983 to 1995.
From 1989 to 2002 Phipps was chairman of Greenwich Resources, a
gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...
company. He was chairman of the English String Orchestra (and was also involved with the English Symphony Orchestra) and
Falklands Conservation
Falklands Conservation (FC) is a charitable organisation formed to protect the wildlife and the natural environment of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It intends to conserve and undertake scientific research in the biosphere of t ...
from 1990 to 1992.
In 1996 he founded
Desire Petroleum
Desire Petroleum plc was an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Malvern, England. It owned offshore exploration and production licences in the North Falkland Basin in the waters north of the Falkland Islands and its core focus was t ...
, remaining chairman until his death in 2009. Although Phipps had visited the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
in 1975, he did not become hopeful about oil prospects in the area until 2004, when a seismic survey of the
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
showed considerable quantities of oil.
Personal life
In 1965 he married Marion Lawrey, and they had two sons and two daughters.
Phipps died on 10 January 2009, in a Birmingham hospital.
Oil exploration pioneer passes away
/ref>
He owned a farm in Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
.
See also
* Vince Cable
Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet a ...
References
*''Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974''
*
External links
''Times'' obituary
News items
Falklands oil in April 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Colin
1934 births
2009 deaths
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
Scientists from Swansea
People educated at Acton County Grammar School
People educated at Bishop Gore School
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
Fellows of the Geological Society of London
British petroleum geologists
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
People in the petroleum industry
Social Democratic Party (UK) parliamentary candidates