Meet Skip
About Skip York
Dr. Harold "Skip" York is a strategist and energy economist who has spent more than thirty years on decisions whose consequences outlast the people who make them.
Skip York in brief
Skip York is the nonresident fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, chief energy strategist at Turner Mason & Company, and founder of DSC Advising, a strategic advisory firm. He teaches strategy in the energy transition at the University of Wyoming. He was previously head of commodity strategy for BHP's petroleum business, a vice president at Wood Mackenzie, a principal at Charles River Associates, an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, and held planning and analysis roles at Exxon. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Virginia and bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Wyoming. His book, Mind the Gap: How Leaders Bridge Today's Position to Tomorrow's Aspirations, is published by Advantage Books on January 5, 2027.
Three decades of long-horizon decisions
Exxon
Planning and analysis roles across Exxon's U.S. and international businesses, from economic analyst to regional planning advisor
McKinsey & Company
Engagement manager, Houston
Reliant Energy
Director, fuel market analysis
2007–2009
Charles River Associates
Principal, global oil and gas consulting
2009–2017
Wood Mackenzie
Vice president, downstream consulting; principal analyst, refining and chemicals; vice president, integrated energy
2017–2022
BHP
Head of commodity strategy, petroleum
2022–present
Turner Mason & Company
Chief energy strategist
2023–present
University of Wyoming
Teaches Strategy in the Energy Transition
2024–present
DSC Advising
Founder
2025–present
Baker Institute, Rice University
Nonresident fellow in energy and global oil
2027
Mind the Gap
Published January 5
Why Skip wrote Mind the Gap
At BHP, Skip set the strategic path for the company's exit from petroleum — a divestiture of its U.S. shale business and the merger of the rest with Woodside. Before that, at Wood Mackenzie, he advised energy companies through more than one cycle of boom and bust. Again and again he saw the same thing: smart people producing careful strategic plans that never changed a single decision.
The plans weren't wrong. They were disconnected — from the assets the organization actually had, from the future it actually wanted, and from the people who make the daily calls in between. After two decades of colleagues saying "you should write a book," his answer is Here it is.
Let uncertainty yield to knowledge
It's the line Skip works by, and the meaning behind the name of his firm: DSC stands for Dubitatio Scientiae Cedat. Long-horizon decisions are made under uncertainty that never fully clears. The job isn't to wait for certainty. It's to know enough, decide, and build in the signposts that tell you when to change course.
Analysis, commentary and testimony
Skip writes and comments on oil markets and energy strategy for outlets including The New York Times, Barron's and The Conversation, and has testified before the California State Assembly on the state's fuel supply. His interviews and op-eds are gathered in Skip's press and interviews, and his shorter essays on strategy appear in his Insights column.
Beyond the work
Skip grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wyoming, which named him its Energy Alumni of the Year in 2012. He supports scholarships at the university's College of Business and School of Energy Resources, serves on the board of the West Point Parents Club of Greater Houston, and lives in The Woodlands, Texas.
Read the book.
Then put it to work.
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