Al Cook

Al Cook became Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group in February 2023.

He joined De Beers from Equinor, where he was Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production International, overseeing businesses across Africa, the Americas and Europe. Prior to this, he held the position of Executive Vice President for Global Strategy and Business Development, where he led the development of Equinor’s energy transition strategy.

Before joining Equinor in 2016, Cook worked for BP for 20 years. He took on a range of commercial, project development and operations roles in the United Kingdom and United States, including acting as Offshore Installation Manager on the Cleeton Platform in the North Sea. He worked in Vietnam and Russia before moving to Azerbaijan in 2009. Here he led the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, a $40bn project that brought natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe for the first time. Cook’s final role at BP was Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Cook holds a master’s degree in Natural Sciences from St John’s College, University of Cambridge. In 2005, he completed the International Executive Programme at INSEAD in France.