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Speakers

Executive Briefing Speaker Biographies

Dr Rachid Oukaci, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Energy Technology Partners

Dr Rachid Oukaci is Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of Energy Technology Partners, LLC. (ETP). He was formerly Manager of Research & Development for Fischer-Tropsch with Energy International Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Williams Companies, which he joined in 1995. His principal field of expertise is catalyst and process developments. He has conducted extensive research in Fischer-Tropsch both at Energy International and in his previous positions at the University of Pittsburgh where, as a research faculty, he managed several F-T related research projects funded by the US Department of Energy.

Bernard Crewdson, GTL Business Development Manager, Johnson Matthey Catalysts

Bernard Crewdson has worked as a Business Development Manager in Johnson Matthey Catalyst since 1999. In 2002 the ICI catalyst business was acquired by Johnson Matthey. In his post Bernard initiated Johnson Matthey's entry into the GTL catalyst business and led the development of the current portfolio of catalysts and technologies which includes purification, synthesis gas generation, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and supporting services. He has a chemical engineering degree from Cambridge University.

Dr David Gray, Director of Energy Systems Analysis, Noblis

Dr. David Gray is currently Director of the Energy Systems Analysis Group (ESAG) at Noblis. He has over 30 years experience in all aspects of energy conversion technologies including the optimization of fossil energy resources, most particularly coal, for power generation, liquid transportation fuels production, hydrogen, SNG, and chemicals. His most recent work for the U.S. Department of Energy has included analysis of various Fischer-Tropsch Coal-to-Liquids (CTL), Biomass-to-Liquids (BTL), and Coal/Biomass-to-Liquids (CBTL) configurations to estimate performance and costs and to determine the overall life cycle GHG emissions of these plants compared to transportation fuels produced from conventional petroleum.

Mike Phillipson, Manager, GTL and CTL Product Group, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited

Mike Phillipson, Manager, GTL and CTL Product Group, Foster Wheeler Energy Limited, joined the company in 1996. During his career with Foster Wheeler, he has worked on a variety of projects from pre-FEED to commissioning/start-up phases in roles ranging from process design engineer and process control engineer to lead engineer.

Mike joined the GTL and CTL Product Group in 2005 and was appointed manager of the group in 2006. Since this time, he has supervised the execution of a number of pre-FEED studies and provided support for EPC project and operational plants.

Mike graduated from Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1992 and worked for SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals for four years prior to joining Foster Wheeler.

Sanjiv Ratan, Chief Technology Officer, Hydrogen Product-line & Technology, Technip Group

Sanjiv Ratan is Chief Technology Officer of the Technip Group for the Hydrogen-Syngas business unit. He is in charge, on corporate level, for technology, promotion, harmonization and strategy relating to hydrogen-syngas product-line.

Sanjiv has close to 30 years of experience and extensive global exposure in the field of hydrogen-syngas covering hydrogen, carbon-monoxide, ammonia, methanol, DRI and GTL. He is well recognized in the industry and has contributed more than 40 papers in international conferences and publications. He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering (Honors) from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India.

He has been facilitating the CWC Executive Briefing since 2002 and is also the member of its XTL Steering committee.

XTL Summit Speaker Biographies

Dr Alirio Parra, Senior Associate, CWC Group Limited

Dr Alirio A. Parra was Venezuela’s Minister of Energy and Mines from 1992 to 1994 and head of its OPEC delegation. He is a past President of the OPEC Conference and of the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE). As Minister of Energy and Mines he was Chairman of the Stockholders Assembly of PDVSA. As a member of the Presidential Commission on Oil Nationalisation in 1975, Dr Parra participated in the smooth transition of the Venezuelan oil industry to the then newly created Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. of which he became a founding Board Member (1975-90). During Dr Parra’s tenure on the Board of PDVSA he helped shape the National Oil Company into a highly efficient entity that significantly increased the reserves position of the country and modernised the downstream, including the revamping of the domestic refinery sector and the internationalisation of its activities by investing abroad both in the US and European markets. Dr Parra is a previous President of the International Association of Energy Economists (1988), and a past Chairman of the British Institute of Energy Economics (1997) and the Oxford Energy Policy Club (1984-95). He has also been an Adviser to The World Bank and the IDB as well as a member of the International Advisory Board of Total. He is currently a Director and Senior Associate with The CWC Group and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Energy Intelligence Group (EIG), Washington DC. He is a Vice Chairman of the Anglo-Venezuelan Society, London.

Neil Hirst, Director, Directorate for Global Energy Dialogue, International Energy Agency

Before occupying his current position as Director for Global Energy Dialogue, Neil Hirst was Director for Energy Technology and R&D, both at the International Energy Agency.

Prior to that he was, for over 30 years, an energy administrator with the UK Government, holding a series of senior posts with responsibility for almost all aspects of UK energy policy. From 2002, he was the Head of the Energy Markets Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Previous responsibilities included energy technology and R&D, nuclear power, coal, and renewables.

Other experience includes:

Chair of the G8 Nuclear Safety Working Group (1997)
Energy Counsellor at the British Embassy, Washington D.C. (1983-1985)
Energy Finance, on secondment to Goldman Sachs in New York (1980-1981)
The Private Offices of UK Energy and Trade Ministers (1973-1975)

Neil holds a First Class degree in Politics Philosophy and Economics from Lincoln College, Oxford, as well as an MBA from Cornell, USA.

He is married with two daughters.

Riaan Welgemoed, Technical Manager, Oryx GTL

Riaan Welgemoed has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Starting his career with Sasol in South Africa in 1996 all of his experience in the petrochemical industry is based on projects and operations within the coal and gas to liquids arena. In 2001 Riaan was seconded by Sasol to Oryx GTL and spent the last 8 years of his career on the design, commissioning, start-up and operation of this plant. As Oryx GTL’s Technical Manager, Riaan is one of the major role players in the optimization and growth of this remarkable facility.

Guy de Kort, Vice President XTL Development, Shell Gas & Power International BV

Guy de Kort is Shell’s Vice President for XTL and Clean Coal Energy, based in The Hague. In this role, Guy is looking after portfolio and technology development for new XTL projects beyond the existing facility in Bintulu Malaysia and the Pearl GTL Project, which is currently under construction in Qatar.

Guy started his professional life with Shell in the upstream business as a process engineer. Since then he has had a number of technical and commercial roles, mainly related to global business development, including commercial manager for the Pearl GTL project.

Alex Forbes, Director, Forbes Communication Limited

Alex Forbes is an independent energy journalist and consultant, having spent his entire career covering the electricity, natural gas and oil industries. He specialises in the energy industries of the Middle East and North Africa, travelling to the region frequently, especially to Qatar, which has become a world leader in LNG and GTL production. Alex has undertaken a broad range of consulting assignments, especially in the fields of LNG and GTL. He takes a particular in the GTL industry and has chaired and spoken at many GTL conferences.

Gareth Shaw, GTL Commercialisation Manager, PetroSA

Gareth graduated from University of Cape Town with a BSc Chemical Engineering (1980) and a MSc Engineering in Energy Studies (1987). He joined PetroSA when the company was still Mossgas in 1989 during detail design of the Mossgas GTL plant, in Mossel Bay, South Africa.

He started in Mossgas as Process Engineer in Methane Reforming Plant completing the construction and commissioning of the Reformers. He then moved to Business Development in 1994, and is now Manager of PetroSA GTL Commercialisation

Sanjiv Ratan, Chief Technology Officer, Hydrogen Product-line & Technology, Technip Group

David Robertson, Technology Vice President, Conversion Technology Centre, BP

David Robertson is responsible for the coordination of the development of a portfolio of technologies that will allow BP to create synthesis gas from a range of primary fuels and create a range of clean fuels and fuel-related products. He was appointed to this role in October 2006.
He has experience of many functions within BP during the last 28 years. His most recent role was Vice President, Gas to Products in Exploration & Production. His other roles have included manufacturing, licensing, sales & marketing, trading, strategy development, general management and technology management.

David lives in Epson, Surrey with his wife Kim and their three sons. He has also lived in the USA, France, and Switzerland.

He has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde University, Scotland and attended the PMD 72 at Harvard Business School.

Arata Nakamura, General Manager, Project Planning Department, Nippon GTL Technology Research Association

Mr Nakamura is Senior Petroleum Engineer with 25 years experience in oil and gas industry.
He joined the Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC) in 1984 and transferred to INPEX CORPORATION (INPEX) in 2004. He is currently General Manager of the New Business Planning Unit in INPEX.
During that time, work included development of GTL technologies, the marketability studies of GTL products and feasibility studies of gas field development with GTL.
Since October 2006, he has served concurrently the post in the Nippon GTL Technology Research Association and has been in charge of Japanese “GTL Demonstration Test Project”.

Stéphane Fédou, XtL Senior Technical Manager, Axens

Stephane Fedou is a Senior Technical Manager for XtL Projects in the Process Licensing Business Unit of Axens. He is in particularly in charge of the integration studies for GTL and BTL projects. He began his career in the engineering company Technip in 1995 as a process engineer, then as a cost estimator. He joined Axens group in 2003, dedicating to GtL, now in charge of proposing the Gasel Technology Suite for all XtL initiatives.

Dr ir Jeroen Boom, Business Development Manager & Senior Process Engineer, VWS Oil & Gas

Jeroen Boom is business developer for VWS Oil & Gas, the business unit within Veolia Water dedicated to the Oil & Gas industry. After studying chemical engineering and getting a PhD degree at the Membrane Research Group from Technical University of Twente, Jeroen joined a consultancy firm for application of membrane technology. In 1999 he joined what nowadays is known as Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies. As process engineer he was involved in the design and realization of large water treatment plants for the O&G industry, including the Effluent Treatment Plant for the Pearl project in Qatar. Since 2008 he is responsible for business development for a.o. the XTL industry.

Derek Atkinson, Business Development Director, Oxford Catalysts

Derek Atkinson is a Business Development Director at Oxford Catalysts, a catalyst technology development company located in Milton Park, Oxfordshire, UK. He is responsible for Oxford Catalysts's carbide technology platform, specifically its application in F-T and hydroprocessing. He has a degree in Chemistry and Polymer Science Technology from Loughborough University of Technology. He held many global sales and marketing positions during his 17 years at Grace Davison, where among other things, he was the key driver in Grace Division for the initiation and early development work on silica and alumina based supports for Fischer-Tropsch.

Malcolm Wells, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Sasol Chevron

A graduate in Politics, Malcolm joined the oil and gas industry in 1998 as Campaign Manager for the UK Offshore Operators Association.
He successfully campaigned against tax increases for the UK oil and gas industry before being transferred to the UK Government’s Oil and Gas Taskforce. In this role he helped to manage one of the largest industry change programmes in the UK.
In 2002 he joined Sasol Chevron as Communications Manager with specific responsibility to promote GTL products and technology. In this role he has written and presented widely on the subject and has been an active participant in many industry initiatives including the foundation of ASFE, the Alliance for Synthetic Fuels in Europe.
Involved in several promotions for synthetic fuel, he was the Expedition Director for the Sasol Chevron GTL Challenge which drove a standard Toyota the length of Africa on neat GTL fuel as well as being responsible for the De Wildt Cheetah Tracker, a three year synthetic fuel fleet test which was launched by Bryan Habana racing a cheetah.

Dr Eckart Heinl, Thermochemical Processes and Fuel Specification, Fuel Cells and Fuels, Group Research, Volkswagen AG

I was born in Bielefeld, Germany in 1974. I have received a PhD in chemical engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Since 2004 I am employed at Volkswagen AG, group research in the department fuel cells and fuels. I am in charge of process evaluation for production of synthetic (bio-) fuels (BtL, GtL) and the assessment of synthetic fuels in latest and future diesel engine technology. In that respect I gained experience as project leader in ongoing national funded research projects about future diesel fuels and their characteristic properties. Additionally I was WP leader in the integrated EU-project RENEW and I am the coordinator of the ongoing collaborative EU-Project OPTFUEL.

Keith Carter, Director Fuel, STAR Alliance Services GmbH

A graduate in Economics from the University of Essex in the UK, with a post-graduate Management degree, Keith Carter has spent his whole career in the aviation industry.

Initially trained as a pilot, he spent over 30 years with British Airways in a variety of commercial and operational roles, with the final 8 years in charge of the airline’s jet fuel procurement outside of North America.

On leaving British Airways in 2000, he joined IATA (the International Air Transport Association) where he represented and promoted all commercial aspects of the industry’s jet fuel business. This was followed by two years as Managing Director International for the US based Armbrust Aviation Group, working on a wide variety of consulting, training, conference and publication activities in the field of aviation jet fuel around the world.

In early 2008, Keith joined STAR Alliance Services Gmbh, the world’s leading airline alliance, as their Director Fuel. Working from the UK, he leads a small specialist team based in Frankfurt, Germany and Dallas, USA, which seeks to optimise the jet fuel procurement and management across STAR member airlines.

With the Alliance consuming over 25% of the world’s jet fuel demand, and a total annual expenditure in excess of $40 billion, it is a high profile and priority function within the group. The Alliance is very aware of the need for long-term security of supply of jet fuel to meet its operational requirements, and also its environmental obligations; “Alternative fuels” are thus an important contributor to its future success.

Outside of work, Keith enjoys all sports, both as participant and spectator, and is a keen squash player and single-handed dinghy sailor.

Dr Kyriakos Maniatis, Head of Sector, EC DG TREN

K. Maniatis has worked for more than 25 years on thermochemical conversion of biomass & waste and taught for 10 years engineering and management courses at the Vesalius College of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

He has traditionally managed the Bioenergy demonstration part of the EC Framework Programmes over the last 19 years. He was member of the DG TREN team that produced the EU Directive for the promotion of biofuels for transport applications and follows up its developments on technical issues. He also initiated the CEN standardisation work for solid biomass fuels, recovered fuels, bioethanol as well as additional work on the biodiesel standard. Recently he was involved in the preparation of the European Commission Communication “The Biomass Action Plan” and he is currently leading the EU team to the tripartite work on International Compatible Biofuels Standards with the US and Brazil. He manages the DG TREN component of the sectors of biofuels and polygeneration in the 7th Framework Programme.

He represents the European Commission in the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency Bioenergy Implementing Agreement and served as the ExCo Chairman in 2002, 2005, 2006 and was re-elected for 2007.

Jaimie Levin, Director of Alternative Fuels Policy and Marketing, AC Transit

Jaimie Levin.JPGJaimie Levin is the Director of Alternative Fuels Policy for the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), which transports 67 million people annually in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since 1999 he has been responsible for the District’s $66 million hydrogen fuel cell development program and various projects introducing biofuels and hybrid vehicles to District operations.

He holds a Masters of City Planning degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a member of the National Hydrogen Association’s Board of Directors since 2001, and sits on the Association’s Policy Committee. He is also AC Transit’s representative to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, of which the District is an associate member.

Capt Chris Schroeder, Head of CRS, Environment & Fuel Optimisation, Qatar Airways

Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment & Fuel Optimization
Qatar Airways

Captain Chris Schroeder is the newly appointed Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment & Fuel Optimization in Qatar Airways.

He joined Qatar Airways from IATA where he was the Head of Flight Operations and the Fuel Efficiency Program (Green Teams) for the past two years.

During his 20-year commercial flying career with the United Nations and major airlines in Asia and the Middle East he accumulated close to 13,000 hours on aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A320, A330 and A340. He held several senior management, consultant and advisor positions with organizations such as the United Nations, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise and Lufthansa Flight Training just to mention a few, throughout his career.

Capt. Schroeder holds several Masters Degrees in Aviation Science and Airline Management, an MBA and an IATA Diploma with Distinction in Operations Management. He has also been awarded with the Texas Honorary Citizenship and with a Doctor (honoris causa) of University from Trinity.

Currently he is pursuing his PhD in Management. He speaks fluent English, German, French and basic Arabic.

Dr Terje Martin Halmø, President, Risavika Gas Centre

Dr. Terje Martin Halmo is President of the Risavika Gas Center in Norway. The Centre is a new, full-scale Demonstration Center for fullscale gas demonstration projects, such as Carbon Capture from gas (and other) combustion and High Pressure tests of new gas equipment such as turbines and compressors. The owners of RGC are Shell, StatoilHydro, Lyse ( the Power and Gas Utility of South West Norway) and IRIS (the International Research Institute of Stavanger).
Prior to taking up his position as President, Dr. Halmo spent a large part of his career with StatoilHydro ASA as a Senior Advisor for Strategy, International E&P until retiring in July of this year. Before the merger of StatoilHydro, Dr Halmo held a variety of positions in the Statoil Group, including Vice President & Special Advisor, INT-North Africa, Vice President & Country Manager – Algeria, Vice President – GTL (Gas to Liquids), International E&P IGAS&P, VP- Chief of Staff, International E&P NVW, VP – Gas Caspian Region, VP - Gas in BP/Statoil Alliance Caspian and VP – Industrial Development Gas.

Dr Halmo has also held senior positions with other organisations in the oil, gas and technology fields including Elkem ASA, Bryns Patentkontor Zacco, Norsk Jern Holding, Elf Aquitaine Norge and SINTEF, where amongst other things, he undertook several international assignments for Norconsult including in Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia and the Philippines.

Dr Halmo received his Ph.D from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology and has also been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and the University of Washington, Seattle.

Dr Rolf Ødegård, Vice President GTL, Statoil Hydro International Business Development, StatoilHydro

Rolf is both a M.Sc. and a Ph.D graduate in material science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He worked 10 years for the independent research foundation SINTEF on aluminium electrolysis, conducting polymers and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. He joined Statoil R&D Centre in 1991 and worked on several projects related to materials for oil refining and gas processing. From 2001 he was appointed Vice President for Oil and Gas processing in Statoil Research and Technology Development Division. Rolf transferred to Statoil International E&P in 2006 with responsibility for GTL Business Development. After the merger in 2007, he then held the same position in StatoilHydro. From 2008 he was appointed Vice President GTL, StatoilHydro International Business Development. Rolf also held a position as Adjunct Professor from 1994 to 1999 at the Department of Materials Science, The Norwegian University of Science and technology.

Dr Michael Wang, Manager, Vehicle, Fuel System Analyst, Argonne National Laboratory

Dr. Wang has been working at Argonne National Laboratory since 1991. His research areas include evaluation of energy and environmental impacts of advanced vehicle technologies and new transportation fuels, assessment of market potentials of new vehicle and fuel technologies, and projection of transportation development in emerging economies such as China. Dr. Wang has been responsible for developing Argonne’s GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) software model for the well-to-wheels analysis of vehicle/fuel systems. Dr. Wang has provided reviews and technical advice on advanced vehicle technologies and new transportation fuels to governmental agencies, automotive companies, and energy companies in North America, China, Europe, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Japan.
Dr. Wang has authored more than 140 publications and made more than 110 invited technical presentations at professional conferences and to individual organizations.

Peter Bond, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Linc Energy Ltd

“Peter is the driving force behind Linc Energy’s plans to introduce a new, clean future for liquids fuels production and power generation. He has a successful track record in the coal and gold mining industries both in Australia and overseas. Building on his early engineering background, he has a unique knowledge and understanding of the coal mining industry over the course of a diversified career spanning more than 20 years. Peter has experience in the design, installation, commissioning and operation of complex processing plants and projects. Peter has completed a number of “turn-arounds” where he has transformed poorly performing companies into valuable assets in relatively short timeframes.

Peter is a self-described entrepreneur with a background in mineral process plant engineering. He took over Linc Energy in October 2004 and re-invigorated the company with a business strategy focussed on creating Australia’s new global clean coal energy producer. After engineering a host of changes, Peter successfully floated the new-look company on the Australian Stock Exchange in May 2006. In nearly three years from listing, Peter Bond has kicked a number of major goals including completing a world-first Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) to Gas to Liquids (GTL) plant proving the company’s ability to produce clean fuel from coal, and securing a string of international joint venture agreements.”

Todd Alexander, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Todd Alexander’s practice includes representing developers of and lenders to biofuel, biomass and clean coal facilities and independent power projects. He has participated in limited recourse financings in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Africa. He has also represented both the sellers and purchasers of ownership interests in several power projects and ethanol facilities.

Max Heinritz-Adrian, Head of Process Department, Uhde GmbH

Max Heinritz-Adrian is Head of Process Department, Gas Technologies Division for Uhde GmbH, Dortmund, Germany

He joined Uhde GmbH in 1998 as Process Engineer, Oil & Gas Division and has worked on many projects in the fields of process development, process design, feasibility studies and engineering for coal gasification, Methanol-to-Gasoline, Fischer-Tropsch product work-up, dehydrogenation technology and aromatics production. He has also authored and presented numerous articles and papers in mentioned fields and is (co-)inventor of several patents / patent applications.

He holds a Masters Degree in Process Engineering from the Technical University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany.

Mark Londo, Senior Researcher, ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands

Marc Londo works as scientific researcher at ECN Policy Studies since 2005. His main field of interest is policy and strategy work in biofuels, biomass in general and the energy economy as a whole. Apart from several EU projects, he also leads a forthcoming review study for IEA Bioenergy dedicated to policy makers. He holds a Ph D in biomass and land use issues and graduated in environmental chemistry.

Dr Manfred Kessler, Senior Specialist Process Chemistry & Biofuels, Norske Skog/Xynergo AS

Manfred Kessler holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry from Karl Franzens University Graz, Austria. He has over 12 years experience in industrial R&D within pulp and paper, both as a senior scientist and manager of process chemistry with Norske Skog. In early 2008 Dr. Kessler joined the project team of Xynergo AS, the biofuel subsidiary of Norske Skog, where he is responsible for development of process chemistry for biofuel production.

Christoph Kiener, Project Development Officer, CHOREN Industries GmbH

Christoph Kiener leads the project and innovation development at CHOREN Industries in Freiberg
In before, he gained experience in the syngas gas business, with a special focus on optimization of production plants and demand forecast systems for load adaption in plant operations.
Christoph studied chemistry at Technical University Munich and holds a doctorate in heterogeneous catalysis from Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kohlenforschung, Muelheim an der Ruhr. For ten years, he has been involved in energy concepts and future energy supply topics.
Christoph joined CHOREN in 2007. He is currently coordinating the development of CHORENs SIGMA project for a large scale biomass gasification plant.

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