Americas Petroleum and Energy Virtual Conference

His Excellency Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria began his tenure as Secretary General of OPEC on August 1, 2016 and was reappointed as Secretary General for a further three years in 2019. Over the years he also worked in several key roles at OPEC. In 1986, he was appointed to Nigeria’s delegation to OPEC, and from 1993 to 2008, served as Nigeria’s National Representative on the Organization’s Economic Commission Board. In 2006, he was Acting OPEC Secretary General, and represented Nigeria on OPEC’s Board of Governors from 2009 to 2010. From 2009 to 2010, he was Group Managing Director and CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Previous to that, he served as Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas. Earlier in his career, he was Special Advisor to former Minister of Petroleum Resources and OPEC Secretary General, HE Dr Rilwanu Lukman KBE. Mr. Barkindo has also been leader of Nigeria’s technical delegation to the UN climate change negotiations since 1991. He served as Chair of the Group of 77 and China at the UNFCCC and was elected to serve three terms as Vice President of the Conference of the Parties –COP13 (Bali, Indonesia), COP14 (Poznan, Poland) and COP15 (Copenhagen, Denmark), where he chaired the opening session. Since his assumption of office as Secretary General, he remains a leading voice in the long standing quest for more OPEC and non-OPEC cooperation for stable oil markets on a sustainable basis. He is currently the longest serving delegate to OPEC.

Whether it’s football, life, or a business, Mr. Cowher believes that everyone should be instilled with three critical points. Everyone needs the right game plan, the right people and environment surrounding them, and the right approach to achieve all your goals. Mr. Cowher overcame adversity and many obstacles to win 161 games as he compiled the right game plan, molded the right players, surrounded himself with the right coaches, and had the attitude and mindset to envision victory every day he stepped on the field. Bill led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their first Super Bowl title in 26 years in 2005. He was the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL before stepping down following the 2006 season after 15 years with the Steelers. His 15 seasons with the Steelers ranks ninth in NFL history for longest head coaching service with one team. Bill was only the team's second head coach since 1969 after taking over for legendary head coach Chuck Noll on January 21, 1992, at the age of 34. (Photo credit: Mary Kouw, CBS)

Mr. Shrikant Madhav Vaidya is a Chemical Engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. He has over 34 years of extensive experience in refining & petrochemicals operations. He has had a decade-long association with India's largest cracker plant – the Panipat Naphtha Cracker Complex, a major driver of IndianOil's petrochemicals business – right from the drawing board stage. He is among the select technocrats in the Indian oil & gas industry who are proficient in all facets of refinery-petrochemicals integration, desirable for the sustainability of the oil & gas industry in the long-term. Mr. Vaidya is also a Non-Executive Chairman on the Board of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (a Subsidiary of IndianOil), Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. and Indian Oiltanking Ltd. (both Joint Venture Companies). He is also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Petronet LNG Ltd. (a Joint Venture of IndianOil).

Mr. Armstrong became president and chief executive officer of Williams in January 2011. Prior to being named CEO, Mr. Armstrong led the Company’s North American midstream and olefins businesses through a period of growth and expansion as Senior Vice President – Midstream. Previously, Mr. Armstrong served as Vice President of Gathering and Processing from 1999 to 2002; Vice President of Commercial Development from 1998 to 1999; Vice President of Retail Energy Services from 1997 to 1998 and Director of Commercial Operations for the company’s midstream business in the Gulf Coast region from 1995 to 1997. He joined Williams in 1986 as an engineer. Mr. Armstrong graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Mr. Hamm founded Continental Resources in 1967 and was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer until January 2020, when he was named Executive Chairman. Mr. Hamm also co-founded and serves as Chairman of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. Through his work with DEPA, Mr. Hamm is widely recognized as the man who led the charge to lift America’s 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports. Mr. Hamm’s industry leadership also includes serving as past Chairman and present board member of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, as a founding board member of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, and as past president of the National Stripper Well Association. In addition, he served as Founder and Chairman of Save Domestic Oil Inc., which successfully brought a trade case against four countries trying to put American oil and gas producers out of business. He has been named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” for his creation of thousands of jobs in the oil industry and continuous support of education and diabetes research. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and named the International Energy Policy Conference “Energy Advocate of the Year” as well as being named the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Mr. Kean is responsible for developing and executing the company's vision and strategy and allocating capital to Kinder Morgan business units in a disciplined manner. He also coordinates the company's efforts to achieve operational excellence. He joined Kinder Morgan in 2002 and has held numerous senior management positions within the company, including Executive Vice President of Operations, President of Natural Gas Pipelines and President of Kinder Morgan, Inc. Mr. Kean has worked in the energy industry since 1985 in various commercial, operational and legal positions, primarily in the wholesale energy and pipeline sectors. He holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Iowa.

Prior to assuming the position of CEO of Enauta in September 2020, Mr. Décio Fabricio Oddone da Costa was CEO of Petrobras Bolivia, Chairman and CEO of Petrobras Energia, Vice President of Braskem, Director of Prumo Logística and General Director of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of the Americas, in the USA, and chaired the Bolivian-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Argentine Chamber of the Petroleum Industry. Mr. Oddone has a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. He studied petroleum engineering at Petrobras, and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and the Advanced Management Program at Insead (Institut Européen D’Administration des Affaires).

Mr. Newman founded Onyx Capital Group at 26 years old. In almost four years Onyx Commodities, the trading arm of the group, has become the largest liquidity provider in oil swaps. In tandem the brokerage & consulting arm of the business, Onyx Advisory, offers critically acclaimed research and hedging solutions. At just 22, Mr. Newman initiated, started and built out the successful Crude oil desk at Mandara Capital and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Engineering. He values transparency and is on a mission to disrupt the industry to ensure clarity and remove the complexity normally associated with this trade. He is with the top 1% of experts in oil on social media.

Biography coming soon

Mr. Cabra is the Executive Managing Director of Technology Development, Resources and Sustainability and is also a member of Repsol’s Executive Committee. His responsibilities include key technical areas of the company’s strategy such as IT, digitalization, technology, engineering and sustainability. He also leads the following areas: auditing and control, risk, insurance, reserve control, global services, property management, procurement and corporate security. Between 2012 and July 2018, Cabra served as the Executive Managing Director of Exploration and Production. Under his stewardship, the company made world class discoveries and doubled its production by integrating the assets and teams of Talisman. He also launched a wide-ranging efficiency program 2015-2017 that consolidated the company’s exploration and production business. Mr. Cabra holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Complutense University of Madrid, and has business management studies at the international schools INSEAD and IMD. In addition, he has worked as a head lecturer and associate lecturer at the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Castilla-La Mancha.

Mr. Droog leads and directs the company’s strategy, planning and engagement on energy transition issues, as well as analysis of future business opportunities. He manages a multifunctional team that is part of Chevron’s Strategy and Sustainability organization. Mr. Droog also serves as senior managing counsel for Strategy and Policy within the Law Function at Chevron. In that role he guides and counsels the company on strategic enterprise-wide issues. His legal team works closely with the company’s management, corporate and government affairs leaders, strategy and planning group and the technology ventures business. Mr. Droog previously managed policy issues, supervised special projects for the Law Function, and worked on litigation and disputes for the company. Prior to joining Chevron, he practiced law primarily focused on domestic and international energy matters. After graduating summa cum laude from Pepperdine School of Law, Mr. Droog clerked in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Biography coming soon

Mr. Marriner has spent over 20 years in the business of trading fuel oil, residuals, intermediates, and feedstocks, and has led trading teams through multiple large, structured multi-year deals in the global oil trading market; he has built trading floors from ground level in the United States and Europe. Before joining Motiva Enterprises, Mr. Marriner spent over 18 years with Shell Trading. As part of the global team, he traded the US leg of the larger integrated international trading positions, working daily with Shell trading floors in Europe and Asia. In 2004, he effectively led the opening of the trading activity in the Argos Terminal with VGO and Residual Fuel Supplies in the Netherlands, and further helped secure trading partnerships across Europe. Mr. Marriner earned his MBA with a focus on Finance and Investments from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA after receiving his B.S. in Transportation and Logistics from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. Along with his diploma, he earned his License as a Third Mate in the US Merchant Marine and his Commission as an Officer in the US Navy. Mr. Marriner was honorably discharged from the Armed Services in 2007 as a Lieutenant Commander.

Biography coming soon

Ms. Merrill is responsible for business development activities including relationship and project development, global mergers, acquisitions, and divestments, including related financial analysis and integration activities. In addition, she oversees the Operations Control Team, which includes risk management, supply chain, and transportation. Prior to her current role, Ms. Merrill served as Treasurer, then Executive Director of Corporate finance and Investment Banking, and most recently as Vice President and Chief of Staff. Prior to joining REG, Ms. Merrill worked for Deloitte in Kansas City, serving consulting, audit and tax clients during her tenure. Ms. Merrill holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis, a Master of Accountancy from Truman State University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Truman State University. Ms. Merrill is also a non-active licensed Certified Public Accountant.

Doctor Fairy Wang Pei is Head of Research and Strategy at Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec. She has a wealth of experience in oil marketing, oil trading and oil industry analysis. Based at the firm’s Beijing office since 2010, Dr Fairy has been working as a senior analyst, mainly covering oil fundamentals and corporate strategy. Dr Fairy has written many professional articles — she and her team also published China’s first Petroleum Blue Book. Dr Fairy has a PhD in Economics from the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing.

Biography coming soon

Mr. Leggate has covered the oil and gas Sector for over 20 years, split between Europe (seven years) and the US. With industry experience from his role as a Chevron Offshore Engineer, his analysis is grounded in industry fundamentals, and he often publishes deep dive technical research on individual stocks. He was ranked #2 and #4 respectively in the 2017 Institutional Investor All-America Research Poll for the two sectors that he covers (Integrated Oils & E&Ps). Previously, he headed US oil and gas equity research at Citigroup and European oil & gas equity research at Salomon Smith Barney in London. Mr. Leggate graduated valedictorian with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, 1st Class Hons from University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and has an MBA from the University of Warwick in England.

Biography coming soon

Mr. Nolan joined Stifel in May 2013 covering the shipping and energy infrastructure sectors. Most recently he was part of Knight Capital covering both equity and debt of companies in the maritime sector. Prior to Knight, he spent six years at Jefferies as an equity research analyst covering the shipping sector. In addition to equity research, Mr. Nolan spent several years as a corporate financial analyst for EOG Resources in the oil and gas business. Mr. Nolan graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.B.A. in Finance and received his M.B.A. from the University of Houston. Mr. Nolan is also a CFA charterholder.

Biography coming soon

Biography coming soon

Biography coming soon

Mr. Boyd’s focus on alternative jet fuel is aimed to increase the global deployment while addressing policy, economic, sustainability and logistics challenges. He serves as a member of the United Nations ICAO Alternative Fuels Task Force and sits on the advisory board of the Carbon War Room and Canada’s Biojet Supply Chain Initiative (CBSCI). Prior to joining IATA, Mr. Boyd was the Principal Economist for Virgin Australia Airlines and co-lead of the renewable jet fuel team. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Commerce and a post graduate diploma in Applied Finance, Mr. Boyd spent nearly 10 years in banking for both JP Morgan in Australia and Morgan Stanley in London. He earned a Master’s in Business Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia in 2008.

Mr. Hanley is Global Director for Crude & Fuel Oil Markets at S&P Global Platts, a role that sees him responsible for Platts’ assessment of critical pricing benchmarks around the world. He first joined Platts in 2002, reporting on the crude oil markets of the North Sea, West Africa, Russia and the Middle East. He became Head of Oil Training in 2013 and led the European Crude & Refined Products team from 2015 to 2020. Mr. Hanley has led the evolution of Dated Brent throughout the years and continues to be responsible for further refinements to methodology in both crude and fuel oil specifications and assessments globally. Prior to his work at Platts, Mr. Hanley wrote for EnergyRisk magazine, where he covered risk management and energy market deregulation. He also launched Oil & Gas Technology magazine for the Chinese market.

Ms. Huchzermeyer is the managing editor of the S&P Global Platts Americas crude oil team. She leads a team of pricing specialists who track pricing trends and developments in the North and South American crude markets. She has a background in journalism and business research. She has worked at several daily newspapers in Texas and previously held positions as a researcher and writer at Dun & Bradstreet. She has bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas Tech University.

Mr. Ouwerkerk manages the Americas Natural Gas Pricing team in Houston, overseeing S&P Global Platts’ daily and monthly indices for Gas Daily and Inside FERC Gas Market Report. His role also includes driving development of natural gas pricing and market engagement in emerging natural gas markets such as Mexico & Brazil. He previously worked as a researcher at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C., conducting research and developing recommendations to help strengthen US energy policy. A native of Long Island, he has a Bachelor’s in History from Loyola University Maryland and Master’s in Global Affairs and Energy Security from New York University.

Mr. Rial focuses on developing the Global NGL Service's coverage of market-moving events worldwide. He has worked with all aspects of the Global NGL Service's market coverage, including short- and long-term forecasts, spotlights and features, and daily reports. He brings over 12 years of energy industry experience, including three years of working with NOCs in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Mr. Rial is a Professional Chemical Engineer and holds bachelor's degrees in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado, a master's degree in Mineral and Energy Economics from the Colorado School of Mines, and is pursuing a second master's in Energy Policy from the Johns Hopkins University.

Ms. Delaney is the team lead for North American oil analysis at Platts Analytics, a unit of S&P Global Platts, where she focuses on supply and demand for crude oil, transportation economics, and price fundamentals. She oversees trade flow analysis and differential forecasting in the North American crude oil market, authors the MidContinent Report, and runs the U.S. and Canada Balances by PADD/Region model. Prior to joining Platts Analytics in 2013, Ms. Delaney worked at Musket Corporation, where she assessed risk for both physical and basis trade books, evaluated proposed capital expenditures for the Business Development group, scheduled unit trains, and wrote a daily assessment on moves in the crude oil markets. Ms. Delaney holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a minor in Management Information Systems from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Jackson is a Team Lead on S&P Global Platts’ North American Natural Gas and Power Analytics team, where he is responsible for managing the North American regional natural gas group. In addition, he forecasts US natural gas supply and demand fundamentals, publishes white papers and thought leadership pieces, contributes content to Platts’ Gas Daily publication and supports the buildout of their global analytical arm. He specializes in the North American natural gas market but also has experience covering global LNG, crude oil, and natural gas liquids market dynamics. Over the past eight years, Mr. Jackson worked as a consultant on S&P Global Platts’ Consulting team, delivering customized, in-depth market analytic services and data to consulting clients. In that time, he also served as the lead natural gas analyst for the Northeast, West and Rockies desks. He has been retained for numerous speaking engagements and media interviews with major news outlets such as CNBC, Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and Canada’s Business News Network (BNN).

Andrew Neal is the manager of S&P Global Platts Analytics Global NGL team. He oversees the group’s global NGL coverage and is responsible for developing models and reports that reflect Platts’ global product coverage. Prior to becoming manager, he was an Analyst on the NGL team, covering the groups daily, weekly, and monthly reports. At Platts he has presented to clients both domestically and internationally. Before coming to Platts, he was in a research faculty position at Penn State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona, and a B.S. in Earth Science from Cornell University.