Lester Hunt

I am Professor of Economics with expertise in energy economics, energy policy and econometrics.

I have extensive experience in and outside of higher education. I have worked at the Universities of Essex, Swansea and Surrey and have twice been the Head of Economics at Portsmouth and Head of Economics at Surrey. I was also Director of the Surrey Energy Economics Centre (SEEC). I was an Editor of The Energy Journal for 16 years.

In the past I worked at HM Treasury and Midlands Electricity. More recently I worked at KAPSARC, a research institution in Saudi Arabia, where I was responsible for carrying out research and helping to establish a research culture, associated procedures and systems as it developed into a respected institution for research and policy advice.

I enjoy and have considerable experience of leadership and mentoring, having successfully supervised more than 20 PhD students.

I re-joined the University of Portsmouth as Professor of Economics in October 2017, having previously been Professor of Business Economics between 1994 and 1998. I was also Head of Economics from 1996 until 1998 and from 2017 to 2021. 

I have previously worked at the Universities of Essex (1979-1980), Swansea (1980-1985 and 1987-1989), and Surrey (1989-1991 and 1999-2017). I was Head of the Department of Economics at Surrey (1999-2003) and Director of SEEC (2003-2015). I was an Editor of The Energy Journal from 2006 to 2022.

In addition to working in higher education, I was an Economic Adviser in the forecasting division at HM Treasury (1985-1987), an Energy Analyst/Economist at Midlands Electricity (1991-1994) and more recently a Senior Research Fellow at KAPSARC (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2015-2017). At KAPSARC I undertook and led research on several energy-related issues for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

I gained a BSc (Hons) in Economics with Econometrics from Loughborough University, an MA in Economics from the University of Essex and a PhD in Economics from the University of Surrey.

My research focuses on energy economics and policy. I have edited 2 books and published around 10 book chapters and over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, including the following 3 examples:

1. The value of saving oil in Saudi Arabia, Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy, 2020
2. Gasoline demand, pricing policy, and social welfare in Saudi Arabia: A quantitative analysis, Energy Policy, 2018
3. Energy demand and energy efficiency in the OECD countries: A stochastic demand frontier approach, The Energy Journal, 2011

During my academic career I have taught at a range of levels on various aspects of economics, including economics for business managers, specialist energy economics, and energy economics modelling.