Speakers 2018

H.E. Mustapha Guitouni

Minister of Energy

Ministry of Energy - Algeria

H.E. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo

Secretary General

OPEC

HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria began his tenure as OPEC Secretary General on 1 August 2016.

          An accomplished oil technocrat, he possesses a wealth of experience in the oil and gas industry, both in Nigeria and internationally.

          Born in April 1959, in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria, HE Mohammad Barkindo holds a B.Sc degree in Political Science, a Postgraduate Diploma in Petroleum Economics and Management, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

          For more than 23 years, he worked at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, culminating in his appointment as Group Managing Director and CEO in January 2009. He was also Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, as well as Special Advisor to former Minister of Petroleum Resources and OPEC Secretary General, Dr Rilwanu Lukman.

          An OPEC veteran, HE Mohammad Barkindo served as Nigeria’s OPEC National Representative for a record 15 years and was also OPEC Governor. In 2006, he was appointed Acting OPEC Secretary General.

          A passionate advocate of the climate change initiative, HE Mohammad Barkindo led Nigeria’s technical delegations at the negotiations that produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.

He served as Chair of the Group of 77 and China at the UNFCCC and was elected as Vice President of the Conference of the Parties for three terms. He was Chairman of the OPEC Task Force at the 15^th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

          As OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Barkindo has spearheaded several historic and market-transforming initiatives, steering the adoption of the Algiers Accord in September 2016; the Vienna Agreement in November 2016; and the Declaration of Cooperation, reached with non-OPEC producers, in December 2016. This has been followed by intense collaboration with heads of OPEC and non-OPEC countries in working towards the full and timely implementation of the Declaration of Cooperation, to restore sustainable stability to the oil market in the interests of producers and consumers. As a result of these landmark actions, a historic page has been turned and a new chapter is being written for the energy industry, one with the interests of producers and consumers firmly at its heart.  

Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour

CEO

SONATRACH

Mohamed Arkab

CEO

Sonelgaz

H.E. Yury P. Sentyurin

Secretary General

GECF

Yury P. Sentyurin is the Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, GECF, a position he assumed on January 1, 2018. Previously, he was State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation; State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Education and Science; Deputy Head of Committee on Energy, Transport and Communications of the State Duma and First Deputy Governor of the Nizhegorodsky Region among others.

Dr. Sentyurin was also Co-chair of several intergovernmental Commissions between the Russian Federation and Bolivia, Afghanistan and Congo respectively, and also Chief negotiator on cooperation in gas and oil, with India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Syria, and South Africa.

A recipient of several Awards including the Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation, Dr. Sentyurin who speaks Russian, English, French and Farsi, has a Ph. D. in Political Science, Master’s degree in Law and another Master’s degree in Economics.

Claudio Descalzi

CEO

ENI

Claudio Descalzi has been CEO of Eni since May 2014.

Born in Milan in 1955, he graduated in physics in 1979 from the University of Milan.

He is currently Member General Council and of the Advisory Board of Confindustria Energia and Director of Fondazione Teatro alla Scala.

He joined Eni in 1981 as Oil & Gas field petroleum engineering and project manager, for the development of North Sea, Libya, Nigeria and Congo. In 1990 he was appointed Head of reservoir and operating activities for Italy.

In 1994 he was named Managing Director of Eni subsidiary in Congo and in 1998 Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Naoc, Eni subsidiary in Nigeria.

From 2000 to 2001 he held the position of Executive Vice President for Africa, Middle East and China.

From 2002 to 2005 he was Executive Vice President for Italy, Africa, Middle East covering also the role of Chairman of the board of several Eni subsidiaries in the area.

In 2005 he was appointed Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Eni - Exploration & Production Division.

From 2006 to 2014 he was President of Assomineraria.

From 2008 to 2014 he was Chief Operating Officer of Eni - Exploration & Production Division.

From 2010 to 2014 he held the position of Chairman of Eni UK.

In 2012 Claudio Descalzi was the first European in the field of Oil&Gas to receive the prestigious "Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal 2012" award by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

Claudio Descalzi is Visiting Fellow of The University of Oxford.

From December 2015 he is member of "Global Board of Advisors of Council on Foreign Relations".

Member of the National Petroleum Council for the 2016/2017 term.

Josu Jon Imaz

CEO

Repsol

Pedro Miró Roig

CEO

Cepsa

Pedro Miró joined Cepsa as a trainee in 1976 and has spent his entire career in different areas of the Company. He was the Director of the Corporate Research Center for over 10 years and subsequently become Technology Director. In 2004, he was appointed Vice President of Exploration & Production.

In April 2009, Mr. Miró became Senior Vice-President of Technical Operations, overseeing the Group’s refining and power activities as well as various corporate divisions, including HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) and Technology. Since that time, he has been a member of the Management Committee of the Company.

As a representative of Cepsa, Mr. Miró was also Chairman of MEDGAZ, one of the most significant projects in the gas sector in recent years, heading this company from the time of its establishment in 2000 until the start-up of the deepwater gas pipeline in March 2011.

He has likewise served on the Boards of various other affiliates of the Cepsa Group, having been Chairman of Asesa, Detisa, Gepesa, Cepsa Gas Comercializadora, Cepsa Química, Cepsa Química Becancour and Detén.

He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of CLH (Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos) and has served as Deputy Chairman of Europia (European Petroleum Industry Association), Board member of Concawe, Deputy Chairman of AOP (Association of Petroleum Operators) and Founding Trustee of Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía.

In August 2011, he was named Chief Operating Officer of Cepsa and in January 2012, he was appointed to Cepsa’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. In September 2013, he was designated Chief Executive Officer of the Company and in June 2014, he was appointed Vice Chairman of Cepsa's Board of Directors.

In July 2016, Mr. Miró was named Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the newly-created Fundación Cepsa.

Pedro Miró actively serves in a number of Spanish and international associations: he is a member of the Boards of Trustees of both the Princess of Asturias Foundation, as well as FUNSEAM (Fundación para la Sostenibilidad Energética y Ambiental).

Eng. Stefano Cao

Chief Executive Officer

Saipem S.p.A

Stefano Cao is an Italian engineer and senior business management executive with vast experience in the energy and infrastructure sector.

Since 30 April 2015 he has been Chief Executive Officer of Saipem S.p.A., a leading global company in the Engineering & Construction and Drilling business lines, with a strong bias towards oil & gas-related activities in remote areas and deep waters.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering from the “La Sapienza” University in Rome, Mr. Cao began his career in the Eni Group in 1976, first in Saipem S.p.A. - which he left as Executive Chairman in 2000 - and subsequently in Eni S.p.A. - which he left in 2008 as Chief Operating Officer of the Exploration & Production Division.

From February 2009 to June 2012 Mr Cao was Managing Director and CEO of Sintonia SA, a holding company in the infrastructure sector established as the result of a joint venture between Edizione Holding, Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, Mediobanca and GIC.

Other positions held include Chairman of Eni Corporate University, Chairman of Assomineraria, member of the Boards of Directors of Telecom Italia S.p.A., Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) S.p.A. and Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI) S.p.A., member of the Management Board of A2A S.p.A. and Non Executive Director of Petrofac Ltd.

Ali Rashid Al Jarwan

CEO

Dragon Oil

Maria Moraeus Hanssen

CEO

DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG

Maria Moraeus Hanssen is Chief Executive Officer of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG since January 2018. Before joining DEA, Maria Moraeus Hanssen had been working as CEO of ENGIE E&P International and Head of E&P Business Unit in the ENGIE Group in Paris for two years. Maria looks back to a broad spectrum of jobs in management and operations in the Norwegian Oil and gas industry such as Investment Director at Aker ASA (2008 – 2013), Senior Vice President Gas Supply and Infrastructure at Statoil ASA (2007 – 2008), Vice President / Offshore Installation Manager at Hydro ASA (2006 – 2007), to name but a few.

Maria graduated in "Petroleum Economics and Management" from IFP School - Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Moteurs, Paris, in 1992 and holds a degree in "Petroleum Engineering” from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, in 1989. She is also the Deputy Chairman, and the leader of the Audit Committee, of the Supervisory Board of Yara International, a global leader in nitrogen-based fertilizer production.

Salah Mekmouche

VP Exploration and Production

SONATRACH

Farid Ghezali

Vice President SPE

SONATRACH

Chemical Engineer, specialized in LNG, from the Algerian Petroleum Institute in 1991, he joined Sonatrach in the same year as a process engineer where he became a Project Manager in 1994.

He made a first halt at the Central Executive Direction SPE from 1997 to 2003 as an economic and studies engineer.

In 2003 he took the planning department within the Marketing activity.

In 2005 he was appointed as Operations Director within the SH / BP / Statoil marketing JV based in The Hague until 2010 marketing gas in Italy.

After returning to Algiers, he was appointed Director of Studies and Planning for the Hydrocarbon Transportation Business until January 2017.

From this date he was entrusted as the Head of the Executive Directorate Strategy, Planning and Economy.

Seifi Ghasemi

Chairman, President and CEO

Air Products

Senior Executive

Siemens S.A. /N.V.

Born in 1961, André Bouffioux is CEO of Siemens Belgium-Luxembourg, Nord-West and Central Africa

He graduated as a civil engineer (in Electronics and Automation Technology) at the University of Ghent, and went on to the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve to study Management and Business Administration.

His professional career started as a trainee at Siemens Brussels in 1986, and he has remained with the company ever since. He held various positions in Belgium and Germany, which led him to manage process automation activities all over the world.

From 2002 onwards, André Bouffioux spent four years with Siemens France as a division director. In 2006, he was appointed CEO of Siemens Luxembourg. One year later he was heading up sales as part of the Global Industry Transformation project for Siemens AG (Germany).

From October 1, 2008, André Bouffioux took over the position of CEO of the Siemens Belgium-Luxembourg.
Additionally since November, 2013 he became also responsible for the assigned countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and West-Central Africa.

Furthermore, he is member of the board of Agoria (Belgium’s largest trade association), and EPM (Enterprise for Perfection in Management).

Ayman Asfari

Group Chief Executive

Petrofac

Ahmed El Hachemi Mazighi

VP Marketing

SONATRACH

Tom Allan

Chief Operating Officer

OIL SERV

Tom has been the COO of OILSERV since 2012. Over this period, he lead the company’s expansion across the region as well as the service offering to include multiple new Business Lines as Integrated Services - IOS and Surface Production Management – SPM. Prior to joining OILSERV, Tom worked for 22 years with Schlumberger. During this period, he served as President of Russian and Central Asia Area, EVP of Global Operational Integrity, VP North America Pressure Pumping and numerous other management roles across the globe.

Tom Allan holds a BEng in Chemical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada.

Torgrim Reitan

EVP for Development and Production International

Equinor

Torgrim Reitan has held several managerial positions in Equinor, including Executive Vice President DPUSA August 2015 – 2018. From 1 January 2011 to 1 August 2015 he held the position as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Statoil (CFO). Other positions include Senior Vice President (SVP) in trading and operations in the Natural Gas business area (2009 - 2010), SVP in performance management and analysis (2007 - 2009) and SVP in performance management, tax and M&A (2005 - 2007).

From 1995 to 2004, he held various positions in the Natural Gas business area and corporate functions in Statoil.

Education: Master of Science degree from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Ali Abdelhamid Rais

Vice President Refining and Petrochemicals Activity

SONATRACH

Youcef Khanfar

Central Director New Resources

SONATRACH

Abdelmadjid Attar

Vice President

Association Algérienne de l’Industrie du Gaz (AIG)

Chris Sembritzky

Vice President, International New Ventures

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Chris Sembritzky is Vice President of International Exploration and Production at Anadarko Petroleum, with 17 years of experience in the oil and gas business.

Sembritzky holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Environmental Science and Geology, and a Master’s of Science degree in Geology from Baylor University.

The majority of his experience has been within the international arena, in both upstream exploration and production, including Mozambique, Ghana, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and many other countries.  He most recently was the Vice President of International New Ventures, being responsible for all new business development.  He has also led multiple unconventional assets in the United States. 

Tomás Garcia Blanco

Executive Managing Director Exploration & Production

Repsol

Nordine Ait-Laoussine

Former Minister of Energy of Algeria

President of Nalcosa SA

Nordine Ait-Laoussine is President of the Geneva-based consulting firm NALCOSA.  He formerly served as Senior Vice President of the Algerian National Oil Company Sonatrach (upstream) and later as Senior Vice President of Sonatrach (downstream).  He is the former Managing Director of International Energy Development Corporation (IEDC) and Chief Operating Officer of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec).  Mr. Ait-Laoussine served as Minister of Energy in the Algerian Government in 1991-1992 and as Special Avisor to the Prime Minister thereafter.  He is a member of the Paris Energy Club as well as a member of the Advisory Board of Energy Intelligence Group (EIG) and the International Advisory Board of Dana Gas.

Rime Bouaroudj

General Director of Strategy and Planning

Sonelgaz

Dr. Ahmed Badr

Executive Director

RCREEE

Dr. Ahmed Badr joined RCREEE as of 1st of August,2015 as the new Executive Director. Dr. Badr has more than 20 years of international experience in several senior operational positions in the field of renewable energy, water and infrastructure in most of the multinational financial institutions, namely The World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Commission, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Dr. Badr is civil engineer graduated from Ain Shams University June 1990, has a PhD in Renewable Energy from Springfield University, Illinois - USA, plus two master degrees as one in civil engineering from Springfield University, Illinois – USA and the other one in Project Management in Innovation Economics from Univrsite de Nantes, France. Dr. Badr is married and has two children, both in preparatory school stage.