Dr. Ali Ahmad

Director, Energy Policy and Security Program, American University of Beirut

Ali Ahmad is a faculty member at the American University of Beirut (AUB) where he leads the Energy Policy and Security in the Middle East Program at AUB’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. Dr. Ahmad’s research and lectures cover nuclear security, energy policy, and economics. Prior to AUB, Dr. Ahmad spent two years as a Research Fellow at Princeton University’s Science and Global Security Program where he worked on informing nuclear diplomacy with Iran and studied the prospects of nuclear energy in the Middle East. During the fellowship, Dr. Ahmad worked with Princeton colleagues to develop solutions for the technical challenges in nuclear negotiations with Iran. Dr. Ahmad’s work on energy and the Middle East has so far resulted in several journal articles and book chapters, one book (forthcoming) and several op-eds and interviews with regional and international media. Dr. Ahmad holds a degree in physics from the Lebanese University and a PhD in Energy Engineering from Cambridge University. Outside of academics, Dr. Ahmad advises governments and investment firms on a variety of energy issues.

H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber

Minister of State, United Arab Emirates & CEO, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber is the minister of state for the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), a position he has held since February 2016. Dr. Al Jaber previously served as the chief executive officer for energy at Mubadala Development Company (now Mubadala Investment Company) and chief executive officer and managing director of Masdar until March 2014. He oversaw DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund LP., Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and Masdar Venture Capital. He spearheaded the launch and establishment of Masdar in 2006. He was appointed United Arab Emirates special envoy for energy and climate change in 2010. Previously, he held various positions within ADNOC and Abu Dhabi Gas Company. He has been the chairman of the board at Masdar since March 2014. In 2013, Dr. Al Jaber was appointed United Arab Emirates minister of state and member of the federal cabinet. He is also a member of the executive committee of Masdar Clean Tech Fund, LP. He holds a PhD in business and economics from Coventry University and an MBA and BS in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Ahmad Al Khowaiter

Chief Technology Officer, Saudi Aramco

Ahmad Al Khowaiter is Saudi Aramco’s chief technology officer. Mr. Al Khowaiter joined Saudi Aramco in 1983, where he held various technical roles in oil and gas production organizations, ranging from design, project management, commissioning, and operations, as well as a number of supervisory, managerial, and general management positions. In 2001 he led the commissioning and start-up of Hawiyah Gas Plant, followed by the start-up of Haradh Gas Plant in 2003, two of the largest natural gas processing plants in the world. At the end of 2006, Mr. Al Khowaiter led the Planning and Development of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Subsequently, he held the position of interim provost, KAUST in 2007 and interim vice president for Economic Development, KAUST from 2008 to 2009. He held the position of Saudi Aramco chief engineer from 2011 to 2014, and executive director of power systems in 2014 before assuming his present role. He served on the board of directors of Petron Corporation in the Philippines from 2005 to 2007 and the board of directors of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. from 2011 until 2014. He was also a board member of Sadara from 2011 to 2013. He presently serves as director on the board of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company. Mr. Al Khowaiter holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, an MS degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an MBA degree as a Sloan Fellow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei

Minister of Energy and Industry, United Arab Emirates

H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei was appointed as United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of energy on 12 March 2013. Minister Al Mazrouei has experience in corporate administration in different sectors including ship building, defense systems, oil and gas services sector, and real estate development. His career at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company spanned ten years before he moved to Mubadala Development Company (now Mubadala Investment Company) in 2007. During his career at Mubadala, he expanded the company into Bahrain, Oman, and Kazakhstan. He was responsible for the development of new projects as well as investments in exploration and production in Middle Eastern countries and Africa. Minister Al Mazrouei graduated from the University of Tulsa in the United States with a BS in petroleum engineering.

Dr. Matar Al Neyadi

Undersecretary of Energy, United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Energy and Industry

Dr. Matar Al Neyadi is undersecretary of energy at United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Energy and Industry. In May 2014, Dr. Al Neyadi became chairman of the board of directors of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority. He is also an executive member in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and a member of the executive office of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, and the board of trustees of the minster of interior’s Award for Scientific Research. Dr. Al Neyadi has authored a number of legal books, which notably include Maritime Zones of the UAE, Rules of International Treaties in Public International Law, and Documents in Public International Law. He holds a PhD in international law from the University of Edinburgh.

H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy

Minister of Oil and Gas, Sultanate of Oman

H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy is the minister of oil and gas for the Sultanate of Oman, a position he has held since 1997. He is the chairman of the board of directors of Oman LNG, LLC, and the chairman of Petroleum Development Oman, LLC. Prior to his appointment as minister, Minister Al Rumhy held academic faculty positions in petroleum engineering and served as assistant dean of engineering at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. He has also served as the chairman of Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company LLC and the vice chairman of Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. He earned both his BS and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London. Additionally, Minister Al Rumhy holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.

Musabbeh Al-Kaabi

CEO, Petroleum and Petrochemicals, Mubadala Investment Company

Mr. Musabbeh Al-Kaabi is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Petroleum and Petrochemicals at Mubadala Investment Company. Mr. Al-Kaabi was previously the CEO of Mubadala Petroleum, having joined the company in 2013 as chief growth officer, responsible for new business development, mergers and acquisitions, and exploration. Previously he enjoyed a sixteen-year career with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He joined ADNOC in 1997 and rose to manager of the exploration division. His

achievements include leading ADNOC’s first ever offshore high pressure/high temperature deep gas reservoir mechanical fracturing project, initiating and leading efforts to assess the unconventional resources in Abu Dhabi, and leading recent negotiations with international oil companies to conclude a number of joint venture agreements in Abu Dhabi. He also undertook an overseas assignment with Shell, where he was part of a team specializing in reservoir surveillance. His areas of expertise include geophysics, petroleum geology, field development, unconventional resources evaluation, and petroleum economics. He has been an active participant in a number of professional bodies and event-related executive committees, served as an advisory board committee member for the National Drilling Company, and as an executive committee member of newly established Joint Ventures in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Al-Kaabi holds a BS in geophysical engineering from Colorado School of Mines and an MS in petroleum geoscience from Imperial College, London

Dr. Kamal Araj

Vice Chairman and Commissioner, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission

Dr. Kamal Araj is the vice chairman and commissioner for nuclear power reactors at Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC). Before joining JAEC in March 2008 as the commissioner for international cooperation, Dr. Araj served as the government advisor for nuclear energy. Since 2006, Dr. Araj was the chief scientific advisor at the King Abdullah Development Bureau. Before returning to Jordan, Dr. Araj worked as a senior officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for five years. Prior to that, Dr. Araj worked as consultant and advisor in nuclear energy and advanced technology in Washington, DC with the management consulting firm, RCG/Hagler, Bailly, Inc., XERAD, Inc., the BDM Corporation, Argonne National Laboratory, and the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Before that, Dr. Araj has held academic and research appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and US National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Araj received both his BS in physics and BSE in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His doctorate at MIT focused on nuclear engineering with a minor in energy technology and policy. Dr. Araj has published widely and directed many national and international research study groups in nuclear physics, advanced nuclear power, laser technologies, renewable energy sources and global climate change.

Randolph Bell

Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Randolph Bell is the director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center (GEC), where he has oversight of the budget and revenue of the Global Energy Center, including GEC research and programs in Washington and elsewhere and its affiliated conferences, the Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit, and the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. From 2014–2016, Randy was director of business development and new ventures at the Atlantic Council, where he led the Council’s Global Energy Center launch campaign and oversaw the Council’s corporate and individual giving. From 2011–2014, Randy was managing director at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)–US, where he had overall responsibility for the operations of the IISS’s Washington, DC office, including coordination of finance, administration, programming, and fundraising. From 2010–2011, Randy was manager of national security at the Markle Foundation, where he worked on cyber security, intelligence community information sharing, and technology policy issues. He has published on African, South Asian, and cyber security issues. He has an MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a Public Service and Belfer International and Global Affairs Fellow, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

Dr. Fatih Birol

Executive Director, International Energy Agency

Dr. Fatih Birol became executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2015, twenty years after first joining as a junior analyst. Prior to assuming his current duties, he held the positions of chief economist and director of Global Energy Economics. Dr. Birol has made a significant contribution to the international policy debate on energy and climate change. Dr. Birol has been named by Forbes Magazine among the most powerful people in terms of influence on the world’s energy scene. He is the chairman of the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board and serves as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on “Sustainable Energy for All.” Prior to joining the IEA in 1995, Dr. Birol worked as an oil market analyst at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. He earned a BS in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul. He received his MS and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna. In 2013, Dr. Birol was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by the Imperial College of London.

Phillip Cornell

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Phillip Cornell is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Cornell was a senior corporate planning advisor to the chairman and CEO of Saudi Aramco, where he provided market analysis and business development support to the executive management during the implementation of Saudi oil price strategy. In that capacity, he also provided advice to the Royal Court in the context of Saudi economic transition and foreign policy. From 2011 to 2014 he was special advisor to the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, responsible for strategic messaging and policy advice to the Executive Office of the IEA. Previously, he developed IEA simulations and war-gaming among ministries in preparation for major oil and gas emergencies. Before joining the IEA, Cornell served with NATO as the senior fellow and director of international programs at the NATO School (NSO) in Oberammergau, Germany, where his policy research focused on NATO and energy security. During that period, he also served on the secretary general's committee in Brussels to develop NATO policy in the area of energy infrastructure security. He holds Masters degrees with distinction in International Economics (energy focus) and European Studies (security focus) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He received his BA cum laude in International Relations from Stanford University.

Dr. Helima Croft

Managing Director & Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets

Dr. Helima Croft is a managing director and global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. She specializes in geopolitics and energy, leading a team of commodity strategists that cover energy, metals, and cross-commodity investor activity. Dr. Croft is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a select group of individuals who advise, inform, and make recommendations to the secretary of energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas. She also is a CNBC contributor, a member of the channel’s exclusive family of experts, and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Croft joined RBC Capital Markets from Barclays, where she was a managing director and head of North American commodities research. Prior to that, she worked in Lehman’s Business Intelligence group, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. Dr. Croft has received many industry accolades throughout her career, including Breaking Energy’s Top Ten New York Women in Energy and received her PhD in economic history from Princeton in 2001.

Claudio Descalzi

CEO, Eni

Mr. Claudio Descalzi has been the chief executive officer for Eni since May 2014. He is a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford. Prior to his appointment as chief executive officer at Eni, Mr. Descalzi served as chairman of Eni UK from 2010 to 2014. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Descalzi was the chief operating officer for Eni’s Exploration and Production division, after serving as deputy chief operating officer of the division. During that time, he also served as president of Assomineraria. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Descalzi was executive vice president for Italy, Africa, and the Middle East, and a member of the board of several Eni regional subsidiaries. From 2000 to 2001, he was executive vice president for Africa, the Middle East, and China. In 1998, Mr. Descalzi was appointed vice president and managing director of Naoc, a subsidiary of Eni in Nigeria, after serving for four years as managing director of Eni’s subsidiary in Congo. In 1990, Mr. Descalzi was appointed head of reservoir and operating activities for Italy. He joined Eni in 1981 as an oil and gas field petroleum engineer. In 2012, Mr. Descalzi received the Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In December of 2015, he became a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded an honorary degree in environmental and territorial engineering by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rome in December of 2016. Mr. Descalzi holds a degree in physics from the University of Milan.

Amb. Paula Dobriansky

Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project, Harvard University's JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, PhD, is a senior fellow in the Future of Diplomacy project at Harvard University’s JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and vice chair of the National Executive Committee of the US Water Partnership. Previously, she was senior vice president and global head of government and regulatory affairs at Thomson Reuters. She also held the distinguished national security chair at the US Naval Academy. From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Dobriansky served as undersecretary of state for global affairs. In 2007, as the president's special envoy to Northern Ireland, she contributed to the historic devolution of power in Belfast. For her leadership, she received the secretary of state’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal. From 1997-2001, Ambassador Dobriansky served as senior vice president and director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations.

She serves on various boards, including IDS International, the Energy Innovation Reform Project, the Middle East Institute and the Atlantic Council. She is also a trustee of the Trilateral Commission and on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Previous boards include the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, National Endowment for Democracy (vice chair), Smith Richardson Foundation and George Mason University Board of Visitors. She was a former chair of the national Board of Directors of the World Affairs Councils of America. She received a BSFS summa cum laude in international politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a MA and PhD in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University.

Anatol Feygin

Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, Cheniere Partners

Anatol Feygin has served as executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Cheniere Energy since September 2016. Mr. Feygin joined Cheniere in March 2014 as senior vice president, strategy and corporate development. Mr. Feygin also currently serves as executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Cheniere Partners. Prior to joining Cheniere, Mr. Feygin worked with Loews Corporation from November 2007 to March 2014, most recently as its vice president, energy strategist and senior portfolio manager. Prior to joining Loews, Mr. Feygin spent three years at Bank of America, most recently as head of global commodity strategy. Mr. Feygin began his banking career at JP Morgan Securities Inc. as senior analyst, natural gas pipelines and distributors. Mr. Feygin earned a BS in electrical engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Meg Gentle

President & CEO, Tellurian, Inc.

Ms. Meg Gentle is the president and chief executive officer of Tellurian, Inc., leading the company since August 2016. She previously served as executive vice president of Marketing at Cheniere Energy, Inc. While at Cheniere, she served as senior vice president of marketing, senior vice president and chief financial officer, senior vice president of Strategic Planning and Finance, vice president of Strategic Planning, and manager of Strategic Planning. Before Cheniere, Ms. Gentle spent eight years in energy market development, economic evaluation, and long-range planning. She conducted international business development and strategic planning for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and energy market analysis for Pace Global Energy Services. Ms. Gentle received a BA in economics and international affairs from James Madison University in 1996. She received an MBA from Rice University in 2004.

Todd Glass

Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Todd Glass is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads a market-leading energy and infrastructure practice focused on the representation of energy companies, project developers, and investors in the energy sector in North America, Asia, and Europe. Todd has extensive experience with the development, purchase, and sale of renewable and thermal generation projects; structuring, negotiation, and implementation of energy transactions and financings; and state and federal regulation of the energy industry. He served various enterprises as lead project counsel in the commercialization, project development, regulatory approvals, and financing of alternative energy projects and technologies, including solar (solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar, and solar thermal), wind, fuel cells/energy storage, biomass, hydroelectric, natural gas, and clean coal. In addition, Todd represents utility-scale solar and other renewable energy clients in their power sales and renewable energy credit (REC) transactions, and he advises energy technology companies on a variety of commercial matters, national and international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and venture and other equity and debt financings. Todd previously served as chair of Heller Ehrman's energy practice group and co-chair of its energy and clean technologies practice. Earlier in his career, he worked on environmental and energy policy issues for the Bonneville Power Administration, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, an environmental consulting firm in contract with the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, and the US House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology.

David Goldwyn

President, Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC & Chairman, Energy Advisory Group, Atlantic Council

Mr. David Goldwyn is president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC, an international energy advisory consultancy, and chairman of the Atlantic Council Energy Advisory Group. He is the co-editor of Energy & Security: Strategies for a World in Transition. Mr. Goldwyn served as the US State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs from 2009 to 2011, where he conceived and developed the Global Shale Gas Initiative and the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative and led ministerial level energy dialogues with the developing world. Mr. Goldwyn previously served as assistant secretary of energy for international affairs (1999-2001) and as national security deputy to US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson (1997-98). Mr. Goldwyn is a member of the US National Petroleum Council. Mr. Goldwyn has been published extensively on topics related to energy security and transparency. In 2015, Mr. Goldwyn was the co-director of an Atlantic Council task force chaired by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Warner, which culminated in a report, “Empowering America: How Energy Abundance Can US Global Leadership” (Atlantic Council 2015). Mr. Goldwyn is the author of “Drilling Down: The Civil Society Guide to Extractive Industry Revenues and the EITI” (Revenue Watch Institute 2008).

Jennifer Gnana

Energy Reporter, The National

Jennifer Gnana is a multi-lingual journalist specializing in business and economy in the Middle East and South Asia. After starting her career in broadcast, Ms. Gnana moved on to print and presently covers Middle East energy for the National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.

Michael Greenwald

Senior Vice President, Tiedemann Advisors & Senior Adviser, Atlantic Council

Michael Greenwald is the senior vice president at Tiedemann Advisors and senior adviser to the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council. Prior to joining Tiedemann in 2017, Michael worked in senior diplomatic roles within the US government, serving as a financial diplomat in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East spanning the tenures of US Treasury Secretaries Geithner, Lew and Mnuchin. Most recently, Michael served as the first United States Treasury Attaché appointed to Qatar and Kuwait and opened the Treasury Department’s office in Doha, Qatar in August 2015. Prior to that role, Michael served as the United States treasury policy advisor for Europe. In this role, he was appointed as the head of the United States Delegation to the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Michael has also served in a variety of roles in the US Intelligence Community and in the Office of General Counsel at the US Treasury working closely with the National Security Council at the White House working on issues related to countering ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Iran, Ukraine/Russia, Syria, and North Korea. Michael earned a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law, a Master of Arts from Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from George Washington University. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Michael resides in Washington, DC, and Palm Beach, Florida.

Dr. Craig A. Hart

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

Craig A. Hart is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University’s Energy Policy & Climate program in Washington, DC and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. He also teaches for the Temple University China Rule of Law Program in Beijing, China. Dr. Hart’s research concentrates on carbon management technologies and energy and environmental law and policy, particularly in the context of economic development and firm competitiveness. His research interests include energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, forest carbon sequestration, and carbon capture and storage technologies. Dr. Hart is also an attorney practicing in the fields of project finance, carbon management, and capital markets. He has lived and worked in the United States, Middle East and Asia, representing project developers, banks and investors in energy and infrastructure project finance, carbon finance, and private and public offerings of debt and equity. Dr. Hart holds a BA and JD from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from New York University, and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Neil Hirst

Senior Policy Fellow, Energy & Mitigation, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London

Neil Hirst is the senior policy fellow for energy and mitigation at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. He is currently working with China’s Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission on a joint project on China and international energy governance. From 2005 to 2009, Neil was a director at the International Energy Agency (IEA). Initially, as director for technology, he pioneered the IEA’s flagship technology publication, Energy Technology Perspectives. Subsequently, as director for global dialogue, he forged closer relations and joint programs with IEA partner countries, especially China, India, and Russia. Before that Neil was a senior United Kingdom energy official with responsibilities for international energy policy and (at different times) most domestic energy sectors. In 1997 Neil was the chairman of the G8 Nuclear Safety Working Group and from 1985 to 1988 he was the energy counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington. He has worked on energy finance on secondment to Goldman Sachs. He holds a first class degree in politics philosophy and economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Cornell USA.

David Hitchcock

Consultant, The Mabus Group

David Hitchcock has an extensive background in both aviation and clean energy technologies. He began his professional career in the US Marine Corps as an F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot. He amassed over 3,000 mishap-free flight hours in tactical jets, including service in Europe and East Asia, two combat tours to the Middle East, and command of the Marine Corps’ largest flying squadron. Since leaving the Marines, David has held leadership positions in three innovative cleantech companies, spanning the automotive, biofuel and biochemicals, and waste-to-energy industries. Currently a managing partner of Watershed Strategy, LLC and affiliated with The Mabus Group, he provides consulting services to clients in the energy, petrochemical, agribusiness, and government services sectors. David and his wife reside in rural Virginia and in his spare time, he teaches flying at a local airport. David holds a BSc from the US Naval Academy and an MA from the US Naval War College.

David Hobbs

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

David Hobbs was formerly KAPSARC’s Vice President of Research, having previously served as Chief Energy Strategist and Head of Research at what is now IHS Markit. Prior to joining IHS Markit, David spent nearly two decades in the oil and gas industry, predominantly in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Amos Hochstein

Senior Vice President, Marketing, Tellurian

Amos Hochstein joined Tellurian in 2017 as senior vice president, marketing. Prior to joining the company, he served as the US Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs and led the US Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources. As the US "energy diplomat," Hochstein oversaw global US energy foreign policy engagement and advised the secretary of state and the vice president of the US on global energy markets. As special envoy, Hochstein led the engagement to strengthen Europe's energy security through diversification of natural gas resources; authored the White House Caribbean Energy Security Initiative; chaired the President's US—Caribbean and US—Central America Energy Security Task Force; led US efforts to promote global fuel switching to natural gas and develop stronger natural gas markets throughout Asia and South Asia; and working closely with the Department of Defense, Hochstein led the US efforts to diminish ISIL and other terrorist groups' profits from energy assets. Prior to serving in the State Department, Hochstein served in a variety of senior level positions on Capitol Hill and advised energy companies entering and developing new markets.

Yongsoo Huh

Chief Executive Officer, GS EPS

Yongsoo Huh is currently the chief executive officer of GS EPS, Korea’s largest independent power producer. As a family owner of GS Group, Yongsoo was responsible for Group strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and portfolio management until 2012. He was also responsible for GS Group’s new energy initiative which includes Gas, Powerplants, and Exploration and Production as an executive vice president of GS Energy until 2016. Yongsoo serves on the boards of GS Energy and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Onshore. He is also a board member of the Korea National Museum Society, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and American Ballet Theater; as chairman of the Korea National Ballet Society; APAC member of Tate Modern Museum; and, international council member of the Serpentine Galleries in London. He is also on the board of advisors for Georgetown University Mcdonough School of Business and on the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council.
Yongsoo received a BS/BA from Georgetown University’s Mcdonough School of Business and an EMBA from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Bina Hussein

Associate Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Bina Hussein is an associate director with the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council and joined the Council in 2013. In this capacity, she focuses on oil and gas developments in the Gulf and Kurdistan Region of Iraq as well as economic diversification in the Gulf. Ms. Hussein assists in managing the agenda for two of the Council’s annual flagship initiatives, the Istanbul Summit and Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi. Previously, Ms. Hussein worked for the United Nations Development Programme as a junior consultant in the Private Sector Development Programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (2012). From 2009 to 2011, she worked as a social worker for documented refugees and as a paralegal for undocumented immigrants at the Dutch Refugee Organization in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She received an LLB from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in 2011 and holds a master’s degree in international studies with a focus on human rights, energy security, and the Middle East from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver (2014). Ms. Hussein was a 2016-2017 Penn Kemble Democracy Forum Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy.

Majid Jafar

CEO, Crescent Petroleum

Mr. Majid Jafar is the chief executive officer of Crescent Petroleum, the Middle East’s oldest private oil and gas company, and vice chairman of the Crescent Group of companies which includes interests in port management, logistics, contracting, private equity, and real estate. He is also managing director of the board of Dana Gas, the leading publicly listed natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent is the largest shareholder. His previous experience was with Shell International’s Exploration and Production and Gas and Power Divisions. In addition, Mr. Jafar is the founder and chairman of the Centre for Economic Growth in partnership with INSEAD Abu Dhabi, and serves on several boards, including Queen Rania Foundation, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, and the Iraq Energy Institute. He sits on the Middle East Advisory Council for the World Economic Forum, the Carnegie Endowment, and Harvard Business School. He is a member of the GCC Board Directors Institute and the Young Presidents Organization, an accredited director of the Institute of Directors Mudara, and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Mr. Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with a BA and an MA in engineering. He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and an MBA (with Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.

Robert Johnston

Managing Director, Global Energy and Natural Resources, Eurasia Group & Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

After five years as Eurasia Group CEO, RJ returned in November 2018 to a full-time role as Managing Director of the Global Energy and Natural Resources practice, a team he founded in 2006. RJ works closely with corporate and institutional investor clients involved in the commodity and energy sector. Services range from board presentations to strategic planning, drawing upon his experience and analytical expertise in energy geopolitics, including the North American unconventional energy revolution, resource nationalism, energy infrastructure, and industry-civil society relations. RJ also works closely with leading metals and mining firms and investors, assessing key trends involving country risk, supply and demand, and socioeconomic impact on the sector.

Prior to joining Eurasia Group, RJ served as managing director of equity research at Medley Global Advisors, where he was responsible for providing political and strategic insights to clients in the institutional investment community and served as the lead analyst for global energy equities. RJ, in addition, was a research director at UBS Warburg Energy, working directly in support of energy trading. And he previously directed internal research teams supporting oil, LNG, metals, and FX trading at Enron Global Markets. Earlier, at ArmorGroup, RJ directed political risk research for corporate clients in a variety of markets including China, Russia, Colombia, and Indonesia.

Recent notable achievements include published contributions to the World Economic Forum, the World Energy Council, the National Petroleum Council, the International Gas Union, and the Canadian Energy Research Institute, as well participation in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Oil Sands Dialogue, the Brookings Institution Task Forces on US Crude Oil and LNG Exports, and PwC Energy Visions, among numerous other endeavors. RJ holds a doctorate in international relations from American University, a master’s degree in political science from McMaster University, and a bachelor’s degree in political studies from Bishop’s university.

RJ is a Nonresident Senior Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and a board member for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington.

General James L. Jones Jr., USMC (Ret.)

Founder & President, Jones Group International & Chairman, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

General James L. Jones Jr., USMC (Ret.) is the founder and president of Jones Group International and the interim chairman of the Atlantic Council. He also serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. As the former commander of US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, he led all military operations for NATO and later, as national security adviser, he brought clear vision and steady leadership to America’s mission in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and the country’s interests around the world. Gen. Jones graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was commissioned into the Marine Corps in January 1967. He served in Vietnam as rifle platoon and company commander. On returning to the US he pursued a career in the Marines, attending the Amphibious Warfare School in 1973 and the National War College in 1985, and serving as Marine Corps liaison officer to the US Senate. He was also commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Northern Iraq and Turkey on Operation Provide Comfort; chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia; and commanding general, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic. He also served as military assistant to the secretary of defense from 1997-99. He became the 32nd commandant of the United State Marine Corps in July 1999. During his NATO assignment, he advocated energy security and the defense of critical infrastructures as a core part of NATO’s future missions. Upon retirement in February 2007, the combat veteran became the president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy and, in 2008, served as the State Department’s special envoy for Middle East regional security. From 2009 until 2010, he served as President Obama’s national security adviser at the White House.

Frederick Kempe

President & CEO, Atlantic Council

Mr. Frederick Kempe has held the position of president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council since December 1, 2006. He comes to the Council from a long and prominent career at the Wall Street Journal, where he won national and international recognition while serving in numerous senior editorial and reportorial capacities. His latest book, BERLIN 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth (foreword by Gen. Brent Scowcroft) was published by Putnam in 2012 and is a New York Times bestseller. Mr. Kempe was for seven years the longest serving editor and associate publisher ever of the Wall Street Journal Europe, simultaneously functioning as European editor for the Global Wall Street Journal from 2002 to 2005. In 2002, the European Voice, a leading publication following EU affairs, selected Mr. Kempe as one of the fifty most influential Europeans, although he is American, and one of the four leading journalists in Europe. Mr. Kempe is a graduate of the University of Utah and has a Master’s Degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he was a member of the International Fellows program in the School of International Affairs. Mr. Kempe speaks German and is the son of German immigrants who came to the United States before World War II.

Melanie A. Kenderdine

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

Ms. Melanie A. Kenderdine is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and a principal of the Energy Futures Initiative. Previously, Ms. Kenderdine concurrently served at the US Department of Energy (DOE) as the energy counselor to the secretary and director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis from May 2013 to January 2017. Prior to serving in those roles at DOE, Ms. Kenderdine worked for six years as the executive director and associate director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). Before joining MITEI, Ms. Kenderdine served as the vice oresident of Washington Operations for the Gas Technology Institute from 2001 to 2007. From 1993 to 2001, Ms. Kenderdine served as a political appointee in President Bill Clinton’s administration. Ms. Kenderdine has also served on a Council on Foreign Relations Task Force to develop a national energy strategy, on the Consumers Energy Council of America Working Group on Distributed Energy, has published articles in the World Energy Forum magazine, co-authored a chapter in Energy Security in the 21st Century: A New Foreign Policy Strategy, and is a frequent lecturer on energy issues. In July 2014, Ms. Kenderdine was named one of the top five women in Washington shaping energy policy by the National Journal.

Manoj Kohli

Executive Chairman, SB Energy

Manoj Kohli is executive chairman of SB Energy. SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn have formed the joint venture, SB Energy, which will invest $20 billion over ten years on renewable energy. Before this, Manoj was managing director, Bharti Enterprises and responsible for the growth and operations of Bharti group of companies.

Manoj's key contribution has been building Airtel to the third largest telco in the world. He was managing director and CEO (International), Bharti Airtel, and was responsible for leading the Africa operations, which was acquired in 2010. Manoj joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 and led Bharti Airtel’s India operations for eight years during which the customer base grew from two to 150 million.

Manoj was adjudged “Telecom Man of the Year” in 2000 and “Telecom Person of the Year” in 2004 by Media TransAsia and Voice & Data respectively. He is on the board of HK University, a member of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Management Studies and has been awarded the “Best Alumni Award” by Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University.

Manoj holds degrees in Commerce, Law and an MBA from Delhi University. Manoj also attended the “Executive Business Program” at the Michigan Business School and the “Advanced Management Program” at the Wharton Business School.

David Koranyi

Senior Fellow for Energy Diplomacy, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

David Koranyi is a senior fellow for energy diplomacy at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Previously he served as director of the Council's Energy Diplomacy Initiative. He has been a nonresident fellow at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Centre for Transatlantic Relations since 2010. Mr. Koranyi speaks and publishes on the geopolitics of energy, and Hungarian, European, and US foreign and energy policy. Mr. Koranyi served as undersecretary of state and chief foreign policy and national security advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, Gordon Bajnai (2009-2010). He worked in the European Parliament as chief foreign policy adviser and head of cabinet of a Hungarian MEP (2004-2009). Previously he was a political adviser at the Hungarian National Assembly and a junior researcher at GKI Economic Research Institute, in Budapest, Hungary.Mr. Koranyi is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council, the Hungarian Europe Society, and a Concordia Advisor. He was a recipient of the French Foreign Ministry's Personalities of the Future Fellowship (2012) and of the German Marshall Fund's Marshall Memorial Fellowship (2010), an Aspen Institute Socrates Fellow (2011), and a member of the Hungarian NATO Strategic Concept Special Advisory Group (2009). Mr. Koranyi obtained his master's degree in international relations and economics, with a major in foreign affairs from Budapest Corvinus University.

Daniel Litvin

Founder and Managing Director, Critical Resource

Daniel Litvin is the founder and managing director of Critical Resource, an advisory firm helping companies to assess and manage political, stakeholder and sustainability challenges in the energy and mining sectors. Among these, Critical Resource has supported leading energy investors to develop their approaches on climate change, such as by conducting portfolio resilience testing and implementing other recommendations from the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Prior to founding Critical Resource, Daniel worked at McKinsey & Company where he advised the firm’s leadership on “business in society” issues, and was policy advisor to Rio Tinto, where he worked with senior management on human rights and other sustainability topics. He has been a senior research fellow at Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, and an award-winning resources and environment correspondent at The Economist. He is author of ‘Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility’. He has a BA from the University of Oxford and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

David Livingston

Deputy Director, Climate and Advanced Energy, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

David Livingston is deputy director, climate and advanced energy, of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. He is also a fellow of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy at Johns Hopkins University and teaches a course on energy for the University of Southern California (USC) program in Washington, DC. Previously, Livingston served as a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and as the inaugural Robert S. Strauss fellow for geoeconomics at the Office of the US Trade Representative, where he concluded as acting assistant US trade representative for congressional affairs. He also has worked at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna. Livingston was selected as a Future Energy Leader by the World Energy Council, is an alumnus of the Atlantik Brücke Young Leaders Program, and serves on the advisory board of South by Southwest (SXSW) Cities and a number of social enterprise start-ups. He earned a BA from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an MSc with distinction from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Noura Mansouri

Senior Research Associate, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

Dr. Noura Mansouri is currently a senior research associate at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre, a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an observer at the World Energy Council. Previously, Dr. Mansouri has served as the manager of strategy and marketing at AREVA. She earned her BSc in management information systems from Dar Al Hekma University and her MBA and PhD in clean energy transition from Queen Mary, University of London. She published her first book based on her PhD entitled ‘Greening the Black Gold: Saudi Arabia’s Quest for Clean Energy’. Dr. Mansouri completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at MIT, and she is a recipient of the Ibn Khaldun Fellowship from the Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy. Dr. Mansouri was selected as a young scientist to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate 2017 Meeting in Economic Sciences, she was also selected as a member of the Review Committee in 2017 and the Selection Committee in 2018 for the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and received the 2015 Women Excellence Leadership Award under the category "Rising Stars", and she is also a board member at Women in Clean Energy under the Clean Energy Business Council for the Middle East and North Africa.

Thomas Marchetti

President, Energy Intelligence

Mr. Thomas Marchetti is the president of Energy Intelligence and has extensive energy experience in the financial services industry, including investments and research in equities, commodities and fixed income. Mr. Marchetti was formerly the global energy strategist and a managing director at Credit Suisse and Jefferies. For over twenty-five years, Mr. Marchetti has worked closely with research teams, institutional investors, and capitals markets at investment banks. He has provided analytical support for investments by assessing markets, valuations, and geopolitical risk. Mr. Marchetti was previously a portfolio manager with Lehman Brothers Equity Management. He managed equities and commodities at Jefferies in asset management. Mr. Marchetti has also served as chief financial officer of Raimund Commodities, and as financial analyst in the J. Aron Commodities division of Goldman Sachs. Additionally, while at KPMG Peat Marwick, he specialized in the finance industry. Mr. Marchetti holds a BS in business administration in accounting and finance from Bucknell University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Dr. Najmedin Meshkati

Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

Dr. Najmedin Meshkati is a fellow with the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a professor of civil/environmental engineering; industrial and systems engineering; and international relations at the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Board on Human-Systems Integration of the National Academies (Sciences, Engineering and Medicine). Between 2009 and 2010, he was a Jefferson Science Fellow and a senior science and engineering adviser to the Office of the Science and technology adviser to the US Secretary of State. His current interests include nuclear safety, environmental sustainability, and developing cooperative regional approaches to nuclear fuel cycle management. For the past thirty years, Dr. Meshkati has been teaching and conducting research on human factors, safety culture, and risk reduction of complex, large-scale technological systems, including nuclear power, aviation, refining, and petrochemical industries. As an expert on systems engineering, human factors and safety culture, Dr. Meshkati was selected by the National Academies to be a member on two national panels investigating two recent catastrophic events at Fukushima and Deepwater Horizon. He has inspected many nuclear power plants around the world, including Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi, and Daini.

Chris Midgley

Head, Analytics Content, S&P Platts

Chris Midgley is head of analytics for S&P Global Platts, a division of S&P Global and the leading provider of information and benchmarks for the energy and commodities markets. Chris is a member of the Platts Executive Committee. Based in London, Chris leads and executes the strategy for analytics, which combines in-depth commodity and energy market knowledge, analysis and algorithms with fundamental data to support customers' strategic decisions. With Chris’ expertise, S&P Global Platts Analytics is building a unique integrated energy markets view by combining the organic businesses developed within Platts and combining it with the legacy acquisitions, including PIRA Energy, RigData, Eclipse Energy, cFlow and Bentek Energy. Chris brings over twenty-five years of oil industry experience, twenty years of which working with Shell, primarily in manufacturing, supply, trading, and strategy. Before joining Platts in September 2017, Chris headed up Shell's Oil Markets Analysis division for four years, where he developed long-term outlooks to support the Group's investment decisions and strategies and as Shell Trading's chief economist providing short-term market views to inform trading positions. Chris has also been a director of a number of shipping and oil-related companies. He began his career with Exxon as a process engineer at its Fawley Refinery in the south of England. Chris is a chartered engineer with a degree in chemical engineering from Loughborough University.

Secretary Ernest Moniz

President & CEO, Energy Futures Initiative

Ernest J. Moniz, president and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative, served as the thirteenth United States Secretary of Energy from 2013 to January 2017. He previously served in government as DOE undersecretary from 1997 until January 2001 with science, energy, and nuclear security responsibilities and from 1995 to 1997 as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy with responsibility for the physical, life, and social sciences. He was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and of the Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2013. He also served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future that provided advice to the president and the secretary of energy, particularly on nuclear waste management.

In addition, Dr. Moniz served on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty from 1973 until becoming Secretary of Energy in 2013.  At MIT, Dr. Moniz was the founding director of the MIT Energy Initiative and director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. Dr. Moniz was also Head of the MIT Department of Physics from 1991 to 1995 and in 1997 and Director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center from 1983 to 1991. He is now the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus and special advisor to the MIT President.

Dr. Moniz received a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in physics from Boston College, a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University, and nine honorary doctorates, including three from European universities.

Amb. Richard Morningstar (Ret.)

Founding Chairman, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Richard L. Morningstar is the founding chairman of the Global Energy Center and a board director at the Atlantic Council. He served as the US ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan from July 2012 to August 2014. Prior to his appointment, since April 2009, he was the Secretary of State's special envoy for eurasian energy. Prior to that, Morningstar lectured at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and Stanford Law School. From June 1999 to September 2001, he served as United States ambassador to the European Union. Prior to this, Morningstar served as special adviser to the President and Secretary of State for Caspian Basin energy diplomacy, where he was responsible for assuring maximum coordination within the executive branch and with other governments and international organizations to promote United States policies on Caspian Basin energy development and transportation. From April 1995 to July 1998, he served as ambassador and special adviser to the President and Secretary of State on assistance for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union, where he oversaw all US bilateral assistance and trade investment activities in the NIS. From 1993 to 1995, he served as senior vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Eshe Nelson

Economics and Markets Reporter, Quartz

Eshe Nelson is an economics and markets reporter at Quartz in London, covering everything from company earnings to central banks. Before joining Quartz, she was a markets reporter at Bloomberg News, primarily covering bonds and currencies in the UK and Europe in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis, during the Scottish independence referendum, EU referendum and Greece's debt negotiations. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from City University Londo

Daniel Poneman

President and CEO, Centrus Energy Corporation

Daniel B. Poneman is president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp. As deputy secretary of energy from 2009 to 2014, his responsibilities spanned the range of US energy policies – hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear, and efficiency – including cybersecurity, resilience and emergency response, project management, national security, and international cooperation. From 1990 through 1996, he served at the National Security Council as director for defense policy and arms control and then as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls. He also advised corporate clients as a principal at the Scowcroft Group and spent eight years practicing law at Hogan & Hartson and Covington & Burling. Mr. Poneman is a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a distinguished fellow at the Paulson Institute, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Poneman was educated at Harvard and Oxford University.

Akshat Rathi

Science, Energy, and Environment Reporter, Quartz

Akshat Rathi is a London-based reporter for Quartz, where he covers science, energy, and environment. He tells stories of the people and their ideas tackling the biggest problem facing humanity: climate change. Previously, he was The Conversation’s science editor and has worked at The Economist and the Royal Society of Chemistry. His writings have also been published in Nature, The Hindu, The Guardian, Ars Technica, and Chemistry World, among others. In 2018, he won Journalist of the Year at the Drum’s Online Media Awards ceremony, he was a finalist for the John B. Oakes award for distinguished environmental journalism, and he was shortlisted for British Science Writer of the Year by the Association of British Science Writers. Before that, he has won fellowships from Columbia University and City University of New York to enhance his reporting work. He currently serves on the advisory panel of the Cairncross Review on the sustainability of high quality journalism in the UK. He has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai.

Dr. Jean-François Seznec

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Dr. Jean-Francois Seznec is a nonresident senior fellow with the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council. He is also an adjunct professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies. He teaches classes on finance, energy, and politics in the Persian Gulf. He holds an MIA from Columbia University (1973), a MA and PhD from Yale University (1994). He has published and lectured extensively on chemical and energy-based industries in the Gulf, and their importance in world trade. He is interviewed regularly on national and international television, radio, and newspapers. Dr. Seznec has twenty-five years of experience in international banking and finance, of which ten years were spent in the Middle East. Dr. Seznec is managing partner of the Lafayette Group, a US-based consulting and investment company. His research centers on the influence of the Arab-Persian Gulf, as well as political and social variables on the financial and oil markets in the region.

Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin

Director General, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences

Adnan Shihab-Eldin, formerly acting secretary general and director of research of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is currently the director general of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences and was a member of its board of directors. He serves as advisor to and member of Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee; energy advisor to Schlumberger Business Consulting; a board member to Al-Dorra Oil Services Company, and a member of the board of trustees of the American University of Kuwait and the Gulf Research Center Foundation (Geneva). From 1999 to 2001, Dr. Shihab-Eldin was director of the Division for Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Department of Technical Co-operation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria. Prior to joining the IAEA, he served as director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology (Cairo) and as the UNESCO representative in Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen. From 1976 to 1986 he was the director general of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, serving concurrently until 1980 as vice rector for academic affairs at Kuwait University. Dr. Shihab-Eldin graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, a master of science, and a doctorate in nuclear engineering. Prior to his career with international organizations, Dr. Shihab-Eldin held various lecturing and research appointments in the physical and engineering sciences, energy economics, and technology at universities and research centers in Kuwait, the United States and Europe.

Adam Sieminski

President, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

Adam Sieminski is president of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.  Before his appointment, he held the James R. Schlesinger Chair for Energy and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and prior to that, he was a non-resident senior adviser to its Energy and National Security Program. He also served as the administrator of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) from 2012 to 2017 and, prior to that, he was the senior director for energy and environment at the US National Security Council. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sieminski was Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist, as well as the senior energy analyst for NatWest Securities. In 2006, he was appointed to the National Petroleum Council (NPC), where he helped co-author NPC’s global oil and gas study. Mr. Sieminski is also a member of leading policy and research organizations, which includes his role as a senior fellow and former president of the US Association for Energy Economics, and president of the US National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts. He also served as an advisory board member of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, was chairman of the Supply-Demand Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and a member of the Strategic Energy Task Force of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and has received both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University.

Aida Sitdikova

Director, Energy and Natural Resources, Russia, Caucasus, & Central Asia, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Aida Sitdikova is director of energy and natural resources, Russia, Caucasus, and Central Asia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) where she heads a team covering a diverse group of transition countries with a focus on power utilities and extractive sectors including oil & gas and mining. Ms. Sitdikova has over eighteen years’ experience in emerging market economies working with both the private and public sectors and leading complex financings involving debt, equity, syndications and policy dialogue with the Governments and reputable domestic and international investors.

EBRD is a major investor in the Central Asia and Caucasus power and natural resources sectors where Ms. Sitdikova has led projects with a specific focus on energy and resource efficiency, renewables and energy infrastructure, responsible mining, and upstream oil and gas all underpinned by the Bank’s mandate of supporting transition to lower carbon economies and promoting private sector development. Under Ms. Sitdikova’s leadership the team has grown into a major player in the energy and natural resources sectors of Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan with the annual volume of investments over 500 million euro and portfolio of 2.2 billion euro. Ms. Sitdikova is spearheading the policy engagement with the respective governments to assist with establishing the national regulation in the area of subsoil use, renewables, cost reflective tariffs and commercialization of regulated sectors, gender and inclusion. Prior to joining EBRD in 2001 Ms. Sitdikova worked in private equity in the energy sector of Kazakhstan and Russia. She holds an MBA degree in international finance from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management, a CFA designation, and a BA in linguistics from the Kazakh State University of Foreign Languages.

Nobuo Tanaka

Chairman, Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Mr. Nobuo Tanaka is the chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Prior to this, he served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Mr. Tanaka’s decades long career in energy and finance began in 1973 when he began working for the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) in Japan. He then joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1989 as deputy-director of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, and was promoted to director in 1992. In 1995, he returned to METI and served in several high-ranking positions, the most recent being director-general for the Multilateral Trade System Department. Mr. Tanaka then returned to the OECD from 2002 to 2004 where he was the director for science, technology, and industry and head of the internal OECD Steering Group for the Center of Entrepreneurship until his appointment to IEA executive director

The Hon. Ellen Tauscher

Former Member of Congress, House of Representatives

The Honorable Ellen O. Tauscher is a former seven-term member of Congress and undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in the Obama administration. Tauscher represented California’s 10th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1997 until 2009. In the House, Tauscher chaired the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile, missile defense program and the national labs. She also served as special envoy for strategic stability and missile defense at the State Department until 2012. As undersecretary, Tauscher negotiated the New START treaty with the Russian Federation in 2010 to further reduce the threat of nuclear conflict, and she oversaw other critical nuclear nonproliferation priorities around the world. Prior to serving in Congress, Tauscher worked on Wall Street for fourteen years and was one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She currently serves on the University of California Board of Regents and as chairperson of the Board of Governors for Los Alamos National Security and Lawrence Livermore National Security, a consortium led by the UC Regents. She serves as vice chair of the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and on the Nuclear Threat Initiative Board of Directors. Tauscher is currently a director of two public companies: eHealth, Inc. in Mountain View, CA, where she is independent board chair and Edison International, in Rosemead, CA. Additionally, Tauscher is a director of BAE Systems, Inc. in Arlington, VA and serves on the Board of Advisors of SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA. She also serves as a strategic advisor at the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC.

Masakazu Toyoda

Chair & CEO, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

Masakazu Toyoda is currently the chair and chief executive officer of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). Prior to starting at the IEEJ in 2010, Mr. Toyoda served as the secretary general at the Secretariat of Headquarters for Space Policy in Japan. During this time, he also served as a special adviser to the cabinet on the Asian economy and on climate change. In 2007, Mr. Toyoda was appointed vice minister for international affairs. One year prior, he became the director general of the Trade Policy Bureau. Before this, Mr. Toyoda served as director general for manufacturing industries policy from 2002 to 2006. During the period between 1987 and 2001, Mr. Toyoda served in a variety of roles within the International Trade Policy Bureau, including director of international trade policy planning, director of the tariff division of the Economic Affairs Department, director of the Americas division, director-general of the International Economic Affairs Department, and director-general of the Multilateral Trade System Department. Mr. Toyoda began his career in energy at the Energy and Resources Agency in Japan in 1975, first with the Petroleum Department and then with the Alternative Energy Department, before moving to the International Energy Agency in 1983. He earned a law degree from the University of Tokyo, and a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Han Wenke

Senior Adviser and Research Fellow, the Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission

Han Wenke is currently a senior adviser and research fellow at the Energy Research Institute (ERI) at the National Development and Reform Commission, where his research covers energy policy in China’s national energy development strategy and plans, national energy security, sustainable energy policies, energy market reform, energy subsidies reform, and global energy governance. Prior to this role, Professor Han served as director general of the ERI. In addition, he is the director of the China Economic and Social

Yukari Yamashita

Board Member and Director, Energy Data and Modelling Center, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

As a board member for the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) and the director of the Energy Data and Modelling Center, Ms. Yamashita is responsible for quantitative and qualitative analyses on energy and climate change policy issues. Her modeling team prepares the annual IEEJ Outlook, continues to develop a practical approach to climate change and performed analyses that contributed greatly to Japan’s debate on a national energy mix. She has been serving as a member of various government councils and committees in the fields of energy, science, and technology. She has been leading miscellaneous international and regional programs in energy cooperation through IEA, APEC, ERIA, and IPEEC. She also led bilateral joint research programs with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, and India. Until 2017 she was a member of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee (United Arab Emirates). She is currently an editorial board member of The Energy Journal and a clean energy, education, and empowerment ambassador of Japan, an initiative under Clean Energy Ministerial. She is a president-elect of the International Association for Energy Economics.

Wang Zhongying

Director, China National Renewable Energy Centre; Director General, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission

Wang Zhongying is the director of the China National Renewable Energy Centre and director general of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission. He serves as executive director of the China Rural Energy Industry Association, China Energy Society, and China Biogas Society. He also is the vice secretary-general of the Rural Energy Committee of China Renewable Energy Society, the China Renewable Energy Association and Renewable Energy Industry Committee, and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. Mr. Wang obtained a master’s degree in energy analysis from the Nuclear Research Center of Tsinghua University in 1989