Armando Zamora

President, National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Colombia

Armando Zamora is the current President of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH). He is also a Mechanical Engineer and Specialist in High Government from Los Andes University. He has a Master of Science and Doctorate in Engineering from MIT, and an MBA from IMD (Lausanne). He is an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and  Mining Studies of the University of Dundee (Scotland), where he was Deputy Director.

Mr. Zamora was the first Director of the National Hydrocarbons Agency from 2003 to 2011, emphasizing in the creation and strengthening of the new regulatory authority of the hydrocarbon sector in Colombia, as well as the adoption of a new model for concession contracts. He organized and executed six area bid rounds for exploration and production of the hydrocarbon sector, derived as modern, competitive and fair. Among other achievements, he has also served as Senior Advisor to Accenture Strategy Energy and Schlumberger Business Consulting, Senior Consultant to the Boston Consulting Group, and Consultant to the IDB, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the International Finance Corporation. He previously worked at Mobil de Colombia, the Institute of Nuclear Affairs, Carbocol and Corporación Invertir en Colombia, currently Procolombia.

Carlos Mantilla McCormick

Legal Advisor, National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH)

Carlos Mantilla McCormick's practice area is Oil and Gas Law, he has advised and represented companies and government entities in contracting processes, area allocation, disinvestment of assets, negotiation of participation interests in contracts, mergers and acquisition, farmin and farmout agreements, lawsuit and arbitration processes, design and issuance of policies and regulations for the hydrocarbon sector, incorporation of investment vehicles, creation of branches of foreign companies, obtaining of government licenses and permits, and management for the fulfillment of commitments and contractual and legal obligations.

He has 30 years of experience in the oil sector, he has been Vice President of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), Vice President of Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), Legal Manager of Occidental de Colombia (OXY) and advisor of the National Hydrocarbons Agency, of national and foreign operating companies. He worked at the Banking Superintendency and Bogotá Chamber of Commerce.

He is a Lawyer from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and a Specialist in Commercial Law from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. He studied for a Master of Business Administration at the University Institute of Business Administration (IADE) of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, in addition to specialized courses at the Center for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy of the University of Dundee, Scotland, and at Yale University, United States.

Currently, he works at the Law Firm: Mantilla McCormick Asesores.

Marianna Boza (Moderator)

Director, Brigard Urrutia

Marianna Boza is a transnational attorney authorized to practice in Venezuela and Colombia. She is a Director at Brigard Urrutia and is Head of Mining and O&G. In her capacity, Marianna advises clients around the world on the operations and corporate transactions of upstream, midstream, or downstream energy companies.  She has substantial experience advising companies in the oil & gas and petrochemical sectors. She has been involved in major upstream, midstream, and downstream projects in Latin America, advising in the negotiation and drafting of the relevant contracts. Marianna has advised clients in the negotiation, creation, and financing of joint ventures for the development of hydrocarbons and petrochemical activities and the processing of gas in Venezuela and Colombia.

Marianna was the senior legal counsel at Shell Venezuela, actively participating in the downstream business to produce oil by-products. Additionally, she was an in-house attorney in secondment for the legal department of Repsol and ChevronTexaco in Venezuela, where she provided business-focused advice and gained on-site experience.

Marianna actively participates in several binational chambers of commerce and associations of industry and trade; she is currently the vice president of the Board of Directors of the Colombian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the director of the Extractive Committee of the Colombian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.  Marianna is also a member of the Latin America Regional Executive Committee Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN).

Rebecca Allan

Decommissioning Engineer, Oil & Gas Authority

Rebecca Allan graduated in 2013 from Heriot-Watt University with a 1st class masters degree in Chemical Engineering and has over six years’ experience in the energy industry.

Upon graduating, Rebecca joined an energy consultancy where she gained a strong background in asset performance and debottlenecking projects. After 3 years Rebecca began to specialise in decommissioning and soon rose to the position of Decommissioning Technical Authority. Rebecca’s contribution to the decommissioning industry was recognised when she was awarded the Decom North Sea Young Professional of the Year Award in May 2019.

Rebecca recently joined the Decommissioning Team at the Oil and Gas Authority where she works to promote efficient decommissioning practices which add value for both operators and supply chain.

Martha Vasquez

Associate Director, Upstream Oil & Gas, Boston Consulting Group

Martha Vasquez is an Associate Director at BCG with over 17 years in Upstream including 10 at Schlumberger. Her consulting experience is on diagnostics and benchmarks, performance improvement, cost reduction, strategy and business models; focus includes decommissioning, drilling and production optimization.

Luis Ibarra

Founder & Director, eCERTO ENERGY

Luis Ibarra graduated in 2006 as Mechanical Engineer with Honorific Mention from Universidad Simon Bolivar, in Venezuela, after developing a master's thesis in Robotics at Lund University, Sweden.

Initiated an exciting career in the Oil & Gas industry joining the Integrated Project Management Group of Schlumberger, driving wells delivery optimisation in factory drilling and HPHT campaigns under several contracting models, supporting operators across Latin America and the Middle East.

Left Schlumberger as a qualified Senior Well Engineer to pursue an MBA Oil & Gas Management in the United Kingdom, graduating in 2014 with Distinction from the Robert Gordon University after delivering a consultancy project on behalf of Shell focused on "Maximising Economic Recovery in the UKCS by enabling collaboration across the Supply Chain".

This transformational experience lead to the incorporation of eCERTO ENERGY in 2016, providing strategic advice to the senior leadership of both operators and tier-I contractors with portfolios of major capital and decommissioning projects, identifying the opportunity for driving a digitally enabled supply chain.

In 2019, joined the top 5% of the global energy tech start-ups, graduated from the TechX

Pioneers Programme of the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC), and joined the Entrepreneurship Development Programme sponsored by Scottish Enterprise High Growth Ventures.

Today, Luis is Founder & Operations Director of eCERTO.

Jim Christie (Moderator)

Principal, Decide Wisely

Jim Christie has over 40 years’ experience in oil and gas construction and decommissioning projects.  Jim has worked across the world, but has more recently been based in the UK and Gulf of Mexico, focused on onshore and offshore decommissioning. 

Jim was the Global Decommissioning Projects Manager for Marathon Oil Company in Houston, with a world-wide remit, including the UKCS and Norway

Following his retirement from Marathon, Jim took up the role of Head of Decommissioning for the Oil and Gas Authority.  While there, Jim was responsible for chairing the Decommissioning Task Force, developing and publishing the OGA Decommissioning Strategy, its supporting execution plan, and updating the overall UKCS cost estimate. 

Jim currently works in an advisory capacity aiding both operators and service providers. Jim’s focus is on early planning, decision making, campaign developments, plus the development and implementation of execution and contracting strategies.

Lee Beck

Senior Advisor for Advocacy and Communications, Global CCS Institute

Lee Beck is currently the Global CCS Institute's Senior Advisor for Advocacy and Communications based in the Institute's Washington, DC office. In her role, Lee works closely with diverse stakeholders in North America to advocate on behalf of and strengthen the understanding of CCS and its role in delivering vital emissions reductions vis-à-vis global climate goals.

Before joining the Institute in mid-2018, Lee was a Public Relations Project Manager at VEIC, a non-profit which addresses the economic and environmental costs of energy consumption through the adoption of energy efficiency and renewables. She began her career as a journalist reporting in Germany, Italy, Tanzania and Hong Kong before gathering experience in a variety of global energy issues such as natural gas markets, energy and climate diplomacy, and the German Energiewende.

Lee has a Master of Arts in International Affairs & Economics with majors in Energy, Resources & Environment and Political Economy from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Lee is also currently a Women Leaders in Energy Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. She speaks German, French and Italian.

James Lang

Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig

James O. Lang is a Shareholder with Greenberg Traurig. He focuses his tax and corporate project finance practice on tax incentive programs, Qualified Opportunity Zone and Qualified Opportunity Fund financing, tax credits, and related state and federal incentive programs.  Jim is closing over $8 billion of Qualified Opportunity Funds and ancillary Qualified Opportunity Zone deployment of funds and has closed or is structuring several billion dollars in tax credit incentivized transactions.  Jim represents funds, investors, lenders, community development entities, and for-profit and not-for-profit project sponsors in complex transactions where capital stacks require enhancement through incentive financing, including Qualified Opportunity Zone incentives, state and federal new markets tax credits, affordable housing and low-income housing tax credits, historic rehabilitation tax credits, and renewable energy tax credits. He works with funds, investors, lenders, project sponsors, and qualifying businesses to structure these tax incentive programs along with ancillary governmental and non-governmental financing programs, including inbound immigration and Visa investment programs, grants, and taxable and tax-exempt bonds. Jim works with clients on developing creative structures designed to increase benefits and ameliorate risks.

Willem Bloem (Moderator)

Principal, Bloem Consultants LLC

Willem Bloem is an Independent Advisor to the International Energy Industry.

He has recently finished an assignment for Schlumberger Production Management where he was responsible for the development of large scale upstream alliances in Asia Pacific. Prior to this, he was Country Manager for Lundin Petroleum in Indonesia, based in Jakarta where he was responsible for all Lundin Petroleum’s Exploration & Production activities in Indonesia, including five operated exploration Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in the Natuna Sea and offshore North Papua, a working interest in a producing PSC onshore Sumatra, as well as New Ventures. Following a strategic review in late 2014, he successfully sold Lundin Indonesia after a 9 month sales process involving 90+ interested parties.

Before Lundin, Willem worked for Petrofac Energy Developments for 9 years where he held a variety of roles in Upstream Business Development and Operations, including Managing Director for Petrofac Norway (2007) and General Manager for the Tunisia upstream operations (2009) and Director Business Development SE Asia, based in Malaysia from 2010 – 2014 where amongst others he delivered the first Risk Service Contract for the $1bn Berantai gas field development.

His prior experience includes 14 years in Shell in various international assignments, ranging from technical roles in Facilities Engineering and as Offshore Installation Manager, to commercial roles in Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance and Gas & Power (LNG) Business Development.

Willem is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers for which he served as Chairman of the London section in 2005/06. He holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University (Netherlands) and attended the Corporate Finance Evening Programme at London Business School.

Vera de Gyarfas

Partner, Mayer Brown

Vera de Gyarfas is a partner in Mayer Brown's Houston office and a member of the Oil & Gas industry group. She focuses her practice on transactions involving energy projects in Latin America and Africa. Vera represents companies engaged in all kinds of energy projects, handling negotiations of host government agreements as well as commercial agreements among companies in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Vera represents companies in upstream exploration and production, liquefied natural gas and other natural gas projects under all types of host government agreements, including production sharing agreements, concessions/licenses, and operating services agreements. She also advises companies with respect to power projects, generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, and advises petrochemical companies in developing specialized plants.

Vera has particular experience in LNG and negotiates and drafts investment agreements for host governments and other parties, analyzes existing regulations and government negotiations, and completes agreements for LNG sales and purchases, gas supply, and terminal usage, among others.

Vera advised Anadarko on the Mozambique LNG project which, given the huge gas reserves found, could transform Mozambique into a major natural gas–producing country in the world. Vera headed the negotiation and drafting of the enabling legislation, investment agreement and ancillary agreements. The initial two-train phase of the project has an estimated value of US$15 billion.

Vera was recognized as a 2016 Women in Energy Honoree by Texas Lawyer, she is ranked in the Legal 500 2018 Powerlist as an expert in Mexico's energy sector and is ranked in Chambers Global 2018 for Energy and Natural Resources as an expert in the US for Venezuela. She was also recommended in Legal 500 Latin America 2018, and listed as a leading practitioner in the International Who’s Who of Oil and Gas Lawyers 2018.

Vera is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese and is a frequent author and speaker on energy topics.

Leopoldo Olavarria

International Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright

Leopoldo Olavarria is an International Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright US MX, S.C. He has more than 30 years of experience in oil and gas transactions, with a strong focus on cross-border oil and gas projects, assisting clients in assembling portfolios of E&P properties, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and drafting and negotiating oil and natural gas supply agreements. During this time, he has participated in a myriad of projects, from complex, vertically integrated projects, to smaller exploration projects and multijurisdictional transactions.

His experience includes drafting and negotiating agreements to acquire companies or equity participations in hydrocarbon producing interests in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Cuba, Argentina, Ecuador and other Latin American and Caribbean countries, and associated due diligence reviews, acquisition agreements (such as earn-in and farm-in agreements) and joint venture agreements (including joint operating agreements and production sharing contracts), project development agreements, and engineering, procurement and construction contracts. He also has significant experience in the areas of competition and commercial law, and international trade and investments.

He was a member of the board of directors of the Venezuelan chapter of the Gas Processors' Association (AVPG) from 2004 to 2012 and led the chapter's legal and tax committee from 2006 to 2012. In that capacity, he acted as coordinator of several publications, including AVPG's 20th anniversary publication entitled "Integral Development of the Venezuelan Natural Gas Industry, a Historical and Legal Review" in November 2004.

Carlos Ramos Miranda

Partner, Hogan Lovells

Carlos Ramos Miranda is a Partner at Hogan Lovells Mexico He practices general corporate, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), insurance, infrastructure, and energy law in Mexico. He works with clients in many industries on M&A transactions; the Due Diligence Review (DDR) process; negotiating contracts; securing regulatory permits; and post-merger integration issues. He intervenes in important compliance and investigations cases.

Representing infrastructure and energy clients, Carlos advises International oil companies (IOCs), National oil companies (NOCs), and service companies in their transactions and projects. Carlos has participated in more than 20 water projects in Mexico and abroad, and has advised Mexico's national oil company Pemex in the design and implementation of multiple services contracts, incentivized contracts, and, more recently, in Pemex migrations and farm-outs.

Marianna Boza

Director, Brigard Urrutia

Marianna Boza is a transnational attorney authorized to practice in Venezuela and Colombia. She is a Director at Brigard Urrutia and is Head of Mining and O&G. In her capacity, Marianna advises clients around the world on the operations and corporate transactions of upstream, midstream, or downstream energy companies.  She has substantial experience advising companies in the oil & gas and petrochemical sectors. She has been involved in major upstream, midstream, and downstream projects in Latin America, advising in the negotiation and drafting of the relevant contracts. Marianna has advised clients in the negotiation, creation, and financing of joint ventures for the development of hydrocarbons and petrochemical activities and the processing of gas in Venezuela and Colombia.

Marianna was the senior legal counsel at Shell Venezuela, actively participating in the downstream business to produce oil by-products. Additionally, she was an in-house attorney in secondment for the legal department of Repsol and ChevronTexaco in Venezuela, where she provided business-focused advice and gained on-site experience.

Marianna actively participates in several binational chambers of commerce and associations of industry and trade; she is currently the vice president of the Board of Directors of the Colombian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the director of the Extractive Committee of the Colombian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.  Marianna is also a member of the Latin America Regional Executive Committee Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN).

Diana Sanclemente (Moderator)

Partner, Sanclemente Fernandez Abogados

Diana Sanclemente is a Partner of Sanclemente Fernandez Abogados, where she is recognized for providing timely and highly personalized service. Her practice includes advising pharmaceutical companies, assisting oil and gas, services and mining companies, among others. In addition, she is a member of Board of Directors in different companies including pharmaceutical, oil sector, automotive and financial institutions, as well as a member of AIPN (Association of International Petroleum Negotiators), where she was appointed VP of Regions. She is currently ranked in Chambers and Partners Leading Lawyers for Business (The Client’s Guide), as well as in Who’s Who Legal (Energy).

Nick Fulford

Global Head of Gas/LNG, GaffneyCline

Nick Fulford is Global Head of Gas and LNG at GaffneyCline, with over 35 years experience in all aspects of the gas value chain.  Nick’s career started at British Gas, where he was heavily involved in the gas and power restructuring in the UK in the 1990s.  Since then, Nick has focused on international markets and LNG, including participation in the US unconventional gas boom of the early 2010’s.  Nick joined GaffneyCline in 2014 and over his six years with the company has assisted a range of government and industry clients with strategic, commercial and technical advisory assignments.  He has contributed to three books on LNG markets, Shale Gas, and African LNG/Gas-to-Power and written a number of articles on the impact of US LNG on international gas markets, and the emergence of new pricing models.

John Mauel

Global Head of Energy, Norton Rose Fulbright

John Mauel is the Global Head of Energy at Norton Rose Fulbright. He has more than 30 years of experience in handling the development, financing, acquisition, and divestiture of domestic and international LNG, oil and gas, and electric power projects, including the consortium structuring and joint venture arrangements involved in such projects. John has had the opportunity to act as lead outside counsel in connection with several major LNG projects and transactions, including US LNG export projects, LNG receiving terminal projects on both sides of the Atlantic, major natural gas procurement and marketing transactions, and major LNG sale and purchase transactions. His oil and gas experience encompasses acting as lead outside counsel in connection with the purchase and sale of producing and non-producing oil and gas properties, including major acquisitions and divestitures of US shale oil and gas properties, and in connection with the purchase and sale of midstream assets such as gas processing plants and pipelines.

Vera de Gyarfas (Moderator)

Partner, Mayer Brown

Vera de Gyarfas is a partner in Mayer Brown's Houston office and a member of the Oil & Gas industry group. She focuses her practice on transactions involving energy projects in Latin America and Africa. Vera represents companies engaged in all kinds of energy projects, handling negotiations of host government agreements as well as commercial agreements among companies in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Vera represents companies in upstream exploration and production, liquefied natural gas and other natural gas projects under all types of host government agreements, including production sharing agreements, concessions/licenses, and operating services agreements. She also advises companies with respect to power projects, generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, and advises petrochemical companies in developing specialized plants.

Vera has particular experience in LNG and negotiates and drafts investment agreements for host governments and other parties, analyzes existing regulations and government negotiations, and completes agreements for LNG sales and purchases, gas supply, and terminal usage, among others.

Vera advised Anadarko on the Mozambique LNG project which, given the huge gas reserves found, could transform Mozambique into a major natural gas–producing country in the world. Vera headed the negotiation and drafting of the enabling legislation, investment agreement and ancillary agreements. The initial two-train phase of the project has an estimated value of US$15 billion.

Vera was recognized as a 2016 Women in Energy Honoree by Texas Lawyer, she is ranked in the Legal 500 2018 Powerlist as an expert in Mexico's energy sector and is ranked in Chambers Global 2018 for Energy and Natural Resources as an expert in the US for Venezuela. She was also recommended in Legal 500 Latin America 2018, and listed as a leading practitioner in the International Who’s Who of Oil and Gas Lawyers 2018.

Vera is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese and is a frequent author and speaker on energy topics.

Poe Leggette

Partner, BakerHostetler

Poe Leggette is a Partner at BakerHostetler. He was recently recognized by the Independent Petroleum Association of America for “25 Years of Outstanding Legal Representation,” having saved independent oil and gas producers an estimated $25 billion in costs from excessive regulation. He heads the firm’s national energy industry team, which was named a 2015 Practice Group of the Year by Law360.

Addressing the intricate needs of oil and gas companies, Poe focuses his well-established practice on litigation and transactional work in the energy industry. His experience includes four principal areas of representation: onshore shale plays, federal and private mineral royalties, oil and gas companies operating on federal and Indian lands, and companies operating under federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to entering private practice, Poe served as assistant solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior, advising the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) on their onshore and offshore energy programs, as well as MMS's Royalty Management Program on questions of royalty valuation.

Jasper Mason

Of Counsel, Womble Bond Dickinson; Adjunct Professor, University of Houston Law Center

Jasper Mason is of Counsel, Womble Bond Dickinson. He is a member of their Corporate and Securities practice group, focusing on oil and gas. He has experience representing exploration and production companies and private equity clients on acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures involving upstream and midstream oil and gas assets. Additionally, Jasper has represented clients in matters as diverse as tendering bids for contracts to supply oilfield service equipment in the CIS, acquiring OCS leases in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico, and attracting investors and industry partners to co-develop acreage on state-owned lands in Alaska. He has assisted clients ranging from individual investors to national oil companies.

Jasper is Board Certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He serves as Chair of the Houston Bar Association Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Section, and teaches Oil & Gas Law as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. He has served as secretary and as a member of the board of directors of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), and also served as co-chair of the AIPN’s 2014 Spring Conference. Jasper is also a member of the Texas Bar College and a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Kristin Kluding (Moderator)

Associate, BakerHostetler

Kristin Kluding is an Associate at BakerHostetler. She effectively assists attorneys with a wide variety of projects and transactions utilizing her strong and purposeful writing and research skills. She has considerable experience aiding with business, corporate governance, environmental, and real estate matters—notably in the energy sector. Kristin has written and spoken on the topic of Venezuela’s state-owned oil companies in connection with the government’s nationalization of the country’s oil and extraction industries, winning the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators’ student writing competition and presenting at the 2019 AIPN International Petroleum Scholar Workshop.

Luis Giusti

Senior Adviser (Non-resident), Energy and National Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Luis E. Giusti has been a member of Frontera’s Board of Directors since 2005. A petroleum engineer and private consultant, for 15 years he was a member of the advisory board of Riverstone-Carlyle. He has been in the oil and gas industry for 48 years.

For six years, between September 2000 and September 2005 he was a member of the Board of Royal Dutch Shell. He has been a member of the advisory boards of the Center for Economics, Jackson School of Energy Sciences, University of Texas and the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. He is also member of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Energy Policy Club. He was a member of the task force that issued Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century (Promoted by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Institute of Energy of Rice University, 2001), which became an important piece in the discussions of energy policy of the USA.  He was a member of the Board of Experts of the International Energy Agency (IEA). In 1998 he was elected "World Oil Executive of the Year" by the Oil & Money Conference, in recognition for his performance at the helm of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), especially as a result of the groundbreaking represented by the "Apertura Petrolera" (Oil Opening). Also in 1998 he received the prize “World Oil Executive of the Decade” awarded by the Houston Inter-American Chamber of Commerce” and was awarded the credential of “Honorary Texan” by then Governor George W. Bush.  Along the years he has been an advisor in energy matters to the Governments of Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia. He also provided technical assistance to Rob McKee, the first USA oil commissioner to Iraq post-Saddam Hussein, as well as to Michael Makovsky of the DOD, who gave support to McKee.

Giusti began his career at Shell Corporation in Venezuela, after which, in 1976, he joined Maraven, S.A., an operating affiliate of PDVSA. At PDVSA, he held diverse positions related to exploration and production, refining, corporate planning, and marketing, including serving as Chairman and CEO from 1994 to 1999. Under his leadership, the Venezuelan petroleum sector underwent major reform, which included an opening to private participation, with resulting foreign direct investments of more than $50 billion for the period 1995 to 2000 and a production increase of more than 1.5 million B/D. Over the last five years of his tenure at PDVSA, he continued to consolidate the company´s international downstream position by completing major deals with Mobil, Phillips, Chevron, and Amerada Hess. During 2004-2005 Giusti was an advisor to Statoil.

Giusti graduated in 1966 from the University of Zulia, Venezuela, and received an M.S. in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1971. Between 1972 and 1980, he was Professor of Production and Reservoir Engineering in the University of Zulia. He is a member of the advisory boards of Energy Intelligence Group and the Latin American Energy Advisor of the Inter- American Dialog. He is a lifetime member of the Venezuelan National Academy of Engineering (Seat No. 13), a distinguished member of the Aspen Institute and a frequent speaker and writer in the oil and gas industry.

Francisco J. Monaldi, Ph.D.

Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

He is the Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy and Director of the Latin American Initiative at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and a Lecturer in Energy Economics at Rice University in Houston. He is also a Fellow at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in New York and a Visiting Professor at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in México. He is the Founding Director and a Professor at the Center for Energy and the Environment at IESA in Caracas. He has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard, Stanford, and Tufts. Dr. Monaldi has been a consultant to governments, multilateral agencies, and multinational corporations; including: IMF, WB, IADB, CAF, the ministries of energy of México and Saudi Arabia, Shell, Chevron, Equinor, and Total. He has published numerous articles on petroleum politics and economics and Latin American political economy. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, a Masters from Yale University, and a B.A. from UCAB.

Mark Walker

Senior Managing Director, Sovereign Advisory, Guggenheim Securities, LLC

Mark Walker has 40 years of experience advising more than 20 countries around the world on complex financial matters.

Prior to joining Guggenheim Securities, Mark was head of sovereign advisory at Millstein & Co. and Rothschild London and a Senior Advisor at Lazard Paris. Mark led the Rothschild team that advised Cyprus during its financial crisis in 2013 and co-led the Lazard team that advised Greece in 2011 and 2012 on the first sovereign debt restructuring of a Eurozone country and the largest sovereign debt restructuring ever. Mark also advised the governmental authorities of Greece and Cyprus in their negotiations with the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank and is currently advising the Venezuelan bondholders committee. Mark has worked with the IMF and other official bodies in seeking to improve the practices followed by debtors and creditors in dealing with liquidity and solvency problems of heavily indebted states.  Mark has lived and worked in Paris, Brussels and London and has spent substantial time working in Latin American and Asia.

Bill Cline (Moderator)

Senior Advisor, GaffneyCline

Bill is the Senior Advisor within Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA). GCA is an integrated firm with offices in more than a dozen key locations that provides a broad range of technical, commercial and strategic advisory support to the private and public sectors of the oil and gas industry.

Bill has over 30 years’ experience in the international oil and gas industry and has managed a large number of GCA’s engagements with national oil companies, governments and ministries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He focuses his efforts on combining the technical and commercial capabilities of the GCA Group into integrated decision-making support and advice for the Group’s clientele particularly with respect to property valuations (for transactional or dispute resolution purposes) and development of commercial and fiscal arrangements for linking private sector capital and technology with sovereign or public sector petroleum resources.

Bill graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. with a BSc. degree in International Economics and completed his MBA at Southern Methodist University's Edwin L. Cox School of Business in Dallas.

Dr. Scott Tinker

Director, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Scott W. Tinker works to bring disparate groups together to address difficult challenges. Dr. Tinker is director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, the State Geologist of Texas, and a professor holding the Allday Endowed Chair at The University of Texas at Austin. He has served as president of the American Geosciences Institute, the Association of American State Geologists, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies. Dr. Tinker has received the Campbell Medal, Halbouty Medal, and Boyd Medal, the highest honors given by the AGI, AAPG and GCAGS respectively. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. In his visits to nearly 60 countries, he has given 700 keynote and invited lectures to government, industry, academic, and general audiences and he serves on many boards and advisory councils. Tinker co-produced and is featured in the award-winning energy documentary film Switch, which has been screened in over 50 countries to more than 15 million viewers and is used on thousands of K-12 and college campuses. Dr. Tinker formed the not-for-profit Switch Energy Alliance and is working on a new film project, Switch On, addressing global energy poverty.

For additional videos and information visit Switch Energy Alliance at Switchon.org.

The Lord Browne of Madingley

Executive Chairman, L1 Energy

John Browne (The Lord Browne of Madingley) has been in the energy business for 50 years. He joined BP plc in 1966, becoming its Group Chief Executive in 1995 until his retirement in 2007. During that period, he grew shareholder returns by five-fold and made the company an active participant in seeking solutions to climate change. He also sat on the boards of various companies including Intel Corporation and Goldman Sachs Inc. Since then, until 2015, he was head of the world’s largest private equity fund for renewable energy. He is presently on the board of Pattern Energy Group Inc, a renewable energy company, and the Chairman or member of the board of several privately held entities involved in energy or technology.

He has a wide variety of not-for-profit interests in science, engineering and the arts. He is Chairman of the Crick Institute, a biomedical research organisation, Chairman of the Courtauld Institute, an arts university and gallery, Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and a member of the UK Government’s Research and Innovation Board. He had previously been Chairman of the Tate and President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the US Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds degrees from Cambridge and Stanford Universities and has been awarded honorary degrees by some 20 institutions around the world. He was knighted in 1998 and made a life peer in 2001.  

He is the author of four books: Beyond Business; Seven Elements that Changed the World; The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good Business; and Connect: How Companies Succeed by Engaging Radically with Society.    

Paul Griffin (Moderator)

Senior Adviser, White & Case LLP

Professor Paul Griffin is an English lawyer and has more than thirty-five years’ experience of practising in the international oil and gas business.  Paul was a partner in leading international law firms for some twenty-five years until his retirement from Allen & Overy in 2016.  During that time he led the oil and gas teams at those firms and worked on many of the significant deals and disputes of the global oil and gas business, as well as being involved in related matters of public law and competition law.  He has been recognised as the World's Leading Energy Lawyer in the Expert Guides: Best of the Best, and as the World's Leading Oil and Gas Lawyer in Who's Who Legal.

In addition to his role at the University of Dundee, Paul is Special Adviser to the Global Oil and Gas Group at White & Case.  He is also now active in the resolution of disputes in the international oil and gas sector where he works as an arbitrator, an expert and a mediator.

Paul writes and speaks regularly on the issues and developments of the law in the context of the global oil and gas industry.  He is the consulting editor of the leading text, "The Law and Business of LNG", now in its third edition.

Paul is Chair of the Oil and Gas Law Committee of the International Bar Association and a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators and the Institute of Energy Law.  He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a CEDR Accredited Mediator.

Bob Dudley

Group Chief Executive, BP p.l.c.

Bob Dudley became Group Chief Executive of BP plc in 2010.  

Bob joined the oil and gas industry in 1979 and has held a variety of engineering, commercial and strategy posts in the US, the UK, Russia and China.

In 2009, Bob was appointed to the BP Board with accountability for the Americas and Asia.

From 2003 to 2008 Bob served as President and CEO of TNK-BP in Moscow.

Following BP’s sale of TNK-BP in Russia and acquisition of ~20% of Rosneft, he joined the Rosneft board in 2013.

Previous roles include Vice President for Alternative and Renewable Energy activities and Vice President responsible for BP’s upstream business in Russia, the Caspian region and Africa. 

Bob’s external roles include membership of various Business Councils, the UK/UAE CEO’s Forum, the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua School of Economics in Beijing, and the Russian Geographical Society.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. 

Bob has a Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois, a Masters in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.