Dr. Mike Watts holds a First-Class Hons degree and a PhD in Geology. He joined Shell in 1980, Burmah in 1985 and Premier in 1986. In 1991 Mike was appointed Managing Director of the Amsterdam-listed Holland Sea Search (“HSS”) and became Chief Executive Officer in 1993. At this time he also carried out new ventures in India, Yemen and Vietnam for Command Petroleum and SOCO International, who were major investors in HSS. In 1996, HSS was acquired by Cairn. Mike was appointed Exploration Director of Cairn in 1997 and Deputy Chief Executive in 2009. He is also a non-executive director of SOCO International plc.
Mike has been closely associated with Cairn’s key discoveries and strategies
- Oil and gas discoveries in North Sea, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India
- South Asian strategy at HSSH, Command and Cairn
- Acquisition of Command by Cairn
- Bangladesh and Rajasthan transactions with Shell
- Emergence of Cairn as the pre-eminent foreign-owned oil and gas company in India
Mike leads the new business strategy, which includes its entry into Greenland – a world-class frontier exploration country.