Alastair Coulthard has been appointed as Country Manager in the UK to oversee the company’s exploration and appraisal operations.

Alastair has more than 30 years’ experience in the international oil and gas industry with BP, Woodside, Serica Energy, KrisEnergy and Shearwater GeoServices. He has held a wide range of management, technical, legal and commercial roles in South East Asia, Australia and Africa, leading successful exploration, appraisal and development gas projects across the full value chain. 

He managed the multi-disciplinary team taking the Kambuna gas field in Indonesia from appraisal drilling through development and plant construction to full production, successfully resolving complex technical, commercial and stakeholder challenges.  

Alastair holds an MSc. in Geophysics from Durham University and a Masters degree in Commercial Law from Deakin University.

Helios CEO, Ian Munro, commented that “the appointment of such an experienced individual demonstrates our commitment to see the recently acquired opportunity commercialised this decade. We are focused on drilling the first dedicated well in the UK for natural hydrogen and helium during 2026. The planned well, similar to Helios’s project in Monzon, will test a proven discovery to determine reservoir gases and volumes.  The vision is to produce the cleanest and lowest cost hydrogen, to enhance energy security and support the transition to a lower carbon future. The presence of helium in the discovery, listed by the British Geological Survey in 2024 as a critical raw material ⁽¹⁾, significantly enhances the local value of the project and would be the UK’s first natural Helium production“