Alan Duncan was born in 1957, and was educated at Beechwood Park School, Herts; Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood; St John's College, Oxford and as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University, USA. He worked for Shell International Petroleum, and subsequently for an independent commodity company as a trader of crude oil and refined products. He lived in Singapore from 1984-1986 and, since 1989, has owned his own oil broking and advisory company. He has travelled extensively, especially in the Middle East and South-East Asia.