In this edition of People Powered, Dan Bisset sits down with Starlee Sykes, CEO of Archaea Energy (a BP-owned company), to talk about leadership, scaling renewable energy, and transitioning from traditional oil and gas.
With over 27 years in the energy sector, Starlee offers insight into her journey and what lies ahead for the RNG (Renewable Natural Gas) industry in the United States.
Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
I’m currently the CEO of Archaea Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of BP.
We focus on producing renewable natural gas, primarily from landfills. I’ve been in the energy industry for 27 years, starting as a mechanical engineer.
But beyond work, I’m also a mum of three boys, a wife, a sister – all the things that make me who I am.
What does your career journey look like up to this point?
I started out studying mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University.
During that time, I worked with Mobil Oil in West Texas and did placements in places like Alaska, Norway, and Scotland.
After graduating, I joined BP and spent much of my career in offshore operations, deepwater projects, and various leadership roles globally. I’ve led teams in London, the Gulf of Mexico, and Canada.
Two years ago, I transitioned to lead Archaea – a very different kind of energy business focused on RNG.
What was it like transitioning from oil and gas into renewables?
It’s been both exciting and challenging.
Learning a new industry with new partners, markets, and technologies has been incredibly rewarding.
Archaea was essentially a startup when I joined, so I had to help grow the business from that early phase into something more stable and scalable.
Despite the differences, I found many of my skills from oil and gas to be very transferable – especially when it comes to safety, operations, and building large-scale infrastructure.
What major developments have you seen in the RNG space?
The pace of change in RNG is incredible.
While some landfill and dairy-based RNG facilities have existed for years, scaling them up as part of a broader energy transition is quite new.
Our approach at Archaea is to standardise plant designs in three sizes and roll them out at scale – we did nine projects last year and have many more in the pipeline.
It’s about moving away from one-off, bespoke designs and delivering consistent, repeatable infrastructure across the country.
What’s the vision for growth at Archaea?
We’re operating across more than 32 states now, which is a big shift for me after spending most of my career travelling globally.
Our goal is to continue scaling quickly while maintaining safety and operational excellence.
We want to be the leaders in how RNG is produced and delivered in the US. The technology is advancing, and with it, the opportunity to do things smarter, faster, and at greater scale.
Final thoughts?
The renewable energy transition is happening fast, and RNG is playing a big role in that.
It’s an exciting space to be in – full of innovation, collaboration, and real potential to make a difference. We’re just getting started.
Would you like to be featured?
We’re always looking to spotlight inspiring leaders and forward-thinking voices from the energy sector. If you’d like to be featured in a future People Powered profile, get in touch.
Connect with Dan Bisset on LinkedIn or reach out directly to the Astute US team – we’d love to hear your story.
