Paul Stevens is a Distinguished fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London. He was educated as an economist and as a specialist on the Middle East at Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies between 1979 and 1993. From 1973 to 1979 he taught at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, interspersed with two years as an Oil Consultant at the University of Surrey. Between 1993 and 2008 he was Professor of Petroleum Policy and Economics at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland, a chair created by BP.
He is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Dundee and a Visiting Professor at University College London (Australia). He has published extensively on energy economics, the international petroleum industry, economic development issues and the political economy of the Gulf. He also works as a Consultant for many companies and governments. In March 2009 he was presented with the OPEC Award in recognition of his outstanding work in the field of oil and energy research.