Robert Emile Mabro, CBE, Fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford and President of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1934. He received a degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University (1956), studied philosophy in France (1962-64), and obtained an MSc in economics, with distinction, from London University in 1966. He began his academic career at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University, and in 1969 he took a position at Oxford University as Senior Research Officer in the Economics of the Middle East.
His interest in oil began to develop in 1972-73, and his first publication in this area, co-authored with the late Elizabeth Monroe, was Oil Producers and Consumers: Conflict or Cooperation (New York, 1974). In 1976, together with the Right Honourable Aubrey Jones PC, he founded the Oxford Energy Policy Club and two years later founded the Oxford Energy Seminar, which is held annually at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.
What followed was the establishment of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, which is entirely devoted to research on the economics, politics, and international relations of oil, gas and other energies. His publication list includes thirteen books and monographs and a very large number of articles in journals and papers in collective books. The most recent book, Oil Markets and Prices: The Brent Market and the Formation of World Oil Prices, was co-authored with Paul Horsnell.
In December, 1991, Mr. Mabro was awarded the International Association for Energy Economics 1990 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Profession of Energy Economics and to its Literature. In 1995 he was awarded a CBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the New Year’s Honours List. In 1997, the President of Mexico awarded him the medal of the Mexican Order of Aguila Azteca, and in 2000 the President of Venezuela awarded him the medal of Francisco Miranda. He was promoted in France to Officier des Palmes Academiques in 2001.
Maryse and Ramzy Mikhail Memorial Lecture 