World leading helium scientists Professors Jon Gluyas and Chris Ballentine join Hotspur Helium on incorporation

6th February 2024

Hotspur Helium was incorporated on 6^th February 2024 with world leading helium experts, Professor Jon Gluyas (Durham University) and Professor Chris Ballentine (University of Oxford) joining as co-founders.

Professor Gluyas joins the Board as Technical Director, and Professor Ballentine as an expert advisor. Jon and Chris provide Hotspur Helium with unrivalled technical expertise in locating helium accumulations and its exploration globally.

Professor Jon Gluyas
Jon is a world leading helium geoscientist, creating the first ever exploration strategy for helium. He is the Chair in Geoenergy, Carbon Capture and Storage at the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham University. Prior to joining Durham University in 2009, Jon spent the early part of his career working in the oil and gas industry for BP Exploration, Acorn Oil & Gas and Fairfield Energy. Jon has been Chair of the BGS Board, President of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain, and the Earth Science Teachers Association, and is the founding President of the Geothermal Energy Advancement Association. From 2011-2014, Jon served as Head of Department in Earth Sciences at Durham University, and until April 2023 was the Executive Director of Durham Energy Institute. In 2000, Jon was awarded the Aberconway Medal by the Geological Society of London and has recently been elected President-designate of the Society.

Professor Chris Ballentine
Chris is the Chair of Geochemistry at the University of Oxford, utilising the noble gases to understand the origins and role that fluids and gases play in geological systems, and served as Head of the Department of Earth Sciences between 2017 and 2022. Chris earned his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1992 and held positions at the University of Manchester prior to joining the University of Oxford in 2013. Chris won the Eni Award in 2016, given to researchers who make advanced scientific breakthroughs in the field of energy, and in 2008 won the Geological Society of London’s Bigsby Medal. He has been recognised as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and was formerly president of the European Association of Geochemistry, and a scientific steering committee member for the Deep Carbon Observatory.