Day One

Chairman: Sir William Patey

Former UK Ambassador to Iraq

UK Embassy, Iraq

Sir William Patey KCMG had a long and distinguished career with the British Diplomatic Service including four Ambassadorial postings, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa. Sir William has been the Government and International Affairs Adviser at Control Risks since July 2012. He is a Director at WCP Consultants and Partner at The Ambassador Partnership LLP.

He was appointed Prime Minister’s Envoy for Aviation Security in September 2015. He advises businesses entering and operating in the Gulf region, in particular in the oil and gas sector and financial services and defence industries. He is a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Bank Middle East. He was British Ambassador to Afghanistan until his retirement from HM Diplomatic Service in April 2012. He also served as British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2007-2010), Iraq (2005-2006) and Sudan (2002-2005).

He was Head of the Middle East Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1998-2002. He has also had diplomatic postings in Tripoli, Abu Dhabi and Canberra and served as Deputy Head of the United Nations Department. He was also Non-Executive Chairman at Swindon Town Football Club from October 2012 to February 2013 until the sale of the club to Seebeck97 Ltd in February 2013.

H.E. Kadhim Mohammed Jawad Hassan

Prime Minister’s Senior Economic Adviser for Oil, Gas & Infrastructure

Federal Government of Iraq

H.E. Kadhim Mohammed Jawad has been the Economic Adviser to Iraq's Prime Minister since 2014. He is a member of many committees at the prime minister's office including the economic committee, the power committee and Japanese loan supervising committee. He was previously an Adviser at the Ministry of Trade from 2009-2014, and has worked in contracting and general trade since 1987. He has been an adviser in investment management (including trade, naval and real estate) in UAE and Jordan and has 21 years of experience in forming credits and investing banking facilities. He has provided a study to some Iraqi and foreign banks concerning the role of Iraqi and foreign banks in investment in Iraq. 

He holds a Bachelor's Degree in electrical engineering.

Abdulmahdy Hameed Hussain Al Ameedi

Director General of the Upstream Oil Contracts & Licensing Rounds

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Ambassador Ramon Blecua

Ambassador / Head of Delegation

Delegation of the European Union to Iraq

Ambassador Ramon Blecua has held several postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassies of Spain in Ghana, Indonesia, Egypt and Guatemala from 1988 to 1996. He was Spanish Representative to the Palestinian/Israeli peace negotiations in Cairo from 1992 to 1995. He participated in the International Commission Security Sector Reform of Guatemala as Cooperation Aid Coordinator for implementation of the peace agreements.

In 1997, he was appointed Head of Office of the Director of the Institute for Cooperation with Latin America in the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Adviser of the Deputy Minister for International Cooperation and Latin America. Subsequent postings include Chief of Cabinet of the Director of the Cervantes Institute, Deputy Head of Mission in Teheran, Deputy Consul General in Buenos Aires and Cultural Counsellor in Cairo. He was Adviser for the International Centre Oscar Niemeyer in Aviles for Cultural Diplomacy Projects, Deputy Head of Mission in the Spanish Embassy in New Delhi from 2011 to 2014 and since 2014 Head of Political Section of the EU Delegation in Sana.

He has been invited to lecture by International IDEA, the Latin American Centre of Administration for Development, Argentinian Centre for Foreign Relations, Aspen Institute, universities and research centres on issues of international cooperation, democratic governance and international relations. Ambassador Blecua Casas holds a M.A in history from Madrid Complutense University, and has studied international cooperation, foreign relations and cultural management. He has also published articles and essays on international relations, development cooperation and cultural diplomacy. He speaks English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Persian and Arabic.

Alan Eyre

Director

Office of Middle East and Asia, Bureau of Energy Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Mr Eyre is the Director of Middle East and Asia Office for the State Department’s Energy Bureau, where he ensures strategic energy considerations are integrated into U.S. policy for these regions. In over 30 years of government service Mr. Eyre’s major professional focus has been on the Middle East.

He is widely acknowledged as one of the U.S. Government’s foremost experts on Iran, and was a member of the U.S. Government team who negotiated the July 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.  He has served in Nigeria, Syria, UAE, Azerbaijan and the UK, and speaks Farsi, Dari, Azeri and limited Arabic.

Chairman: Sir William Patey

Former UK Ambassador to Iraq

UK Embassy, Iraq

Sir William Patey KCMG had a long and distinguished career with the British Diplomatic Service including four Ambassadorial postings, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa. Sir William has been the Government and International Affairs Adviser at Control Risks since July 2012. He is a Director at WCP Consultants and Partner at The Ambassador Partnership LLP.

He was appointed Prime Minister’s Envoy for Aviation Security in September 2015. He advises businesses entering and operating in the Gulf region, in particular in the oil and gas sector and financial services and defence industries. He is a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Bank Middle East. He was British Ambassador to Afghanistan until his retirement from HM Diplomatic Service in April 2012. He also served as British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2007-2010), Iraq (2005-2006) and Sudan (2002-2005).

He was Head of the Middle East Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1998-2002. He has also had diplomatic postings in Tripoli, Abu Dhabi and Canberra and served as Deputy Head of the United Nations Department. He was also Non-Executive Chairman at Swindon Town Football Club from October 2012 to February 2013 until the sale of the club to Seebeck97 Ltd in February 2013.

Abdulmahdy Hameed Hussain Al Ameedi

Director General of the Upstream Oil Contracts & Licensing Rounds

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Ali Nazar Faeq Al-Shatari

Deputy Director General and Director of Crude Oil

SOMO, Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Ali Nazar Faeq Al-Shatari is the Deputy Director General and Director of Crude Oil and Gas Marketing for SOMO. He was previously held several senior positions within SOMO including Head of the Asia Department of the Crude Oil and Marketing Division, Head of North and South America Department and Head of Far East Department. He holds an M.Sc. in Energy Economic and Policy from the university of Surrey, UK, and a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Baghdad.

Dr Falah Jassim Alamri

Former Minister's Adviser

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Dr Falah Jassim Alamri holds a PhD titled “Marine and Transporting of Oil Cargo” from the College of Law at Dundee University in Scotland. He also holds a Master’s Degree in International Cargoes Transportation Conventions from Salford University, UK. In 1977, he graduated with a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Basrah’s College of Administration and Economics.

Previous appointments include Iraq’s Governor for Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Director General of Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), Ministry of Oil since 2006, and Director General of the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company (IOTC) from 2004 to 2006 and from 2009 to early 2015. He is a member of the National Committee at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and member of a team responsible for developing the Iraqi Gas Sector.

Alexander Petryaev

Head of Economic & Finance

LUKOIL Mid-East Limited

Prior to joining LUKOIL Overseas Holding in 2006, Mr Petryaev worked in Nestle Russia. In 2010 he was appointed Manager for Economics and Planning for the West Qurna-2 project in Iraq. In 2010-2014 he was responsible for setup of economics and planning division, outlining of major business processes, technical and economic assessment of projects, planning and control of OPEX and G&A, negotiations with Iraqi authorities. In 2014 Mr Petryaev was appointed Head of Economic and Finance of LUKOIL Mid East Limited.

Mr Petryaev has a Master’s Degree in Financial Management (2002) and Executive MBA in Oil and Gas Business (2015). He is a certified Manager for Major Capital Projects in the Oil and Gas Industry (IPA Institute).

Dr Mark Wharton

Iraq Development & Joint Venture Manager

Shell

Dr Mark Wharton is the Development and Joint Ventures Manager for Shell in Iraq and is responsible for the technical and investment planning of Shell’s portfolio of oil and gas projects that are contributing to Iraq’s development and reconstruction.

Mark has extensive industry experience across the oil and gas sector having held prior technical and management positions with Royal Dutch Shell operating units in The Netherlands, Oman, Malaysia, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

In his current role in Iraq he contributes to safe and reliable operations at the Shell-operated Majnoon field in the Basrah province and provides shareholder governance and support to the non-operated West Qurna 1 venture, the midstream gas joint venture Basrah Gas Company and the world-scale Nebras petrochemicals joint venture.

Mark holds a PhD in Geology and Geochemistry from Durham University and a Bachelor of Sciences in Geology from Imperial College, London.

His work in Iraq enables him to pursue the wider societal benefits of capturing gas that is otherwise flared into a useful source of power for Iraq industrial and domestic use, providing employment opportunities for local Iraqi companies and communities and enabling technical and managerial training for Iraqi colleagues within the Shell participating ventures.

Ian Thom

Principal Analyst, Middle East Upstream

Wood Mackenzie

Since joining Wood Mackenzie in 2005, Ian has been involved in analysing the oil and gas industries of the Middle East, UK, Russia and Caspian regions.  Ian is currently responsible for Wood Mackenzie's Iraq upstream analysis. Ian is widely involved in regional oil and gas sector consulting projects, including opportunity screening studies, asset valuations, regional overviews, regional strategy studies and a number of major gas marketing projects.

Ian's previous positions included a role as a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Ian graduated from St Andrews University, in 2004, with a PhD in Physical Chemistry.

Chairman: Thomas Dimitroff

Partner

Infrastructure Development Partnership LLP

Thomas Dimitroff has over 20 years’ experience in the energy sector. He has functioned as a core member of multiple negotiating teams that have delivered globally significant energy projects, including the one million bbl/day Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline, the 10 billion cm/year South Caucasus gas pipeline, the 6.8 bcma gas sales agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan and the 10 bcma Trans-Adriatic Pipeline Company.

He has advised governments including the Azerbaijan Republic during its multilateral Energy Charter Transit Protocol negotiations, and he has led cross-functional teams in delivering multiple feasibility studies and strategy advice to governments and developers for conventional and renewable projects in the former Soviet Union (FSU), Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America.

Tom has also developed and negotiated arrangements for the acquisition and sale of upstream oil and gas assets in the FSU and the Middle East on behalf of oil and gas companies and private equity funds. Prior to joining the Infrastructure Development Partnership, he was regional advisor to BP plc for Africa, the Middle East, Russia, the Caspian and Turkey, advising on non-technical risks posed to new ventures and existing operations across the region.

H.E. Kameran Ali Hasan

Deputy Minister of Environment

Ministry of Environment, Federal Government of Iraq

Dr Kameran Ali Hasan holds a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Law, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Jules Vernier-Picardy University, France. He also holds a PhD in Management of Institutions.

Dr Kameran has experience in the management of government institutions and the development of annual budgets of ministries and how to implement them and the development of public administrative policies and deal with the challenges facing the implementation of these policies. He has also held the following positions: Director General of Planning in the Ministry of Health in the Kurdistan Region and Director General of Social Welfare Director of Relief and Reconstruction Organisation funded by the United Nations.

Ali Warid Hammood

Director General of DhiQar Oil Company

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Olga Mikhaylova

Head of Communications

LUKOIL Mid-East Limited

Olga Mikhaylova was born is Moscow, Russia, and is the Head of Communications at LUKOIL Mid-East Limited. She joined LUKOIL in 1999. From 1999 – 2002 she was the Feature Editor, Deputy Editor-in-chief for the Magazine “Oil of Russia” and was appointed Media Relations Manager at PJSC LUKOIL in 2002. From 2004 to 2015 she worked as Speechwriter and Communications Manager for the LUKOIL President and CEO.

Ms Mikhaylova holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Russian State University for the Humanities and an MBA Finance from the Financial University under the Government of Russian Federation.

John A. Wecker

Energy Advisor

Bureau of Energy Resources, Department of State, US Government

Mr Wecker is an Advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources, specialising in U.S. strategic and economic interests in the Iraqi energy sector. He has been a member of the APEC Energy Working Group and the IEA’s Standing Group on Emergency Questions.

Prior assignments include Deputy Director of the Near Eastern Bureau’s Office of Regional and Multilateral Affairs, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Global Affairs, and Economic Unit Chief in the Office of Chinese Affairs. He has served in Malaysia, Japan, Afghanistan and Lebanon. 

Dr Ian Goodacre

Director

RSK Environment LLC

Ian is Operations Director within RSK’s Global Division and has over 20 years of varied research, environmental consulting and management experience. He specialises in environmental due diligence, risk assessment, soil and groundwater remediation and waste management. For the last five years, Ian has worked in the Middle East, mainly in Iraq, overseeing RSK’s business operations and managing environmental and geotechnical projects for numerous international oil companies.

A highly experienced project director, Ian has managed projects and portfolios for clients including DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, National Grid, Shell, Basrah Gas, Lukoil, Gazprom, PetroChina, TTOPCo and BP/ROO. Ian was the European programme manager for RSK’s pan-European Shell GESS contract from 2010 to 2012 and now manages a number of RSK’s key accounts in Iraq, including Shell and Basrah Gas.

Andrew Martin

Chief Executive Officer

RPSG - Remote Project Services Group LLC

Andrew Martin has been the CEO of Remote Project Services Group (RPSG) since 2010 and has helped guide the company’s transition from a primarily governmental and defence services provider to a leading supplier of facilities management and life support services to the rehabilitated oil & gas sector in Iraq.

He has extensive previous experience in the UK outsourced facilities management sector where he was involved with several county level full suite FM contracts, national highways and rail maintenance projects.

Klaus Schick

Managing Director

ILF Consulting Engineers

Klaus Schick is Managing Director of ILF Consulting Engineers located in Abu Dhabi and responsible for ILF in Iraq. Klaus Schick has spent his career in Upstream Project Development and Execution for Oil and Gas having worked for Bilfinger Berger, OMV and DNO in various countries and positions.

His industry experience spans from Pipeline Project Execution in the Nigerian swamps, Oil and Gas Facility project maturation and delivery to Field Development planning and execution to Managing a Business Unit.

He has a strong emphasis on Oil & Gas Field Concept Development & Assessment, creating business opportunities along the hydro carbon value chain. He has lead large multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams in project definition and project execution and has been working in the Middle East since 2010.

Chairman: Sir William Patey

Former UK Ambassador to Iraq

UK Embassy, Iraq

Sir William Patey KCMG had a long and distinguished career with the British Diplomatic Service including four Ambassadorial postings, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa. Sir William has been the Government and International Affairs Adviser at Control Risks since July 2012. He is a Director at WCP Consultants and Partner at The Ambassador Partnership LLP.

He was appointed Prime Minister’s Envoy for Aviation Security in September 2015. He advises businesses entering and operating in the Gulf region, in particular in the oil and gas sector and financial services and defence industries. He is a Non-Executive Director of HSBC Bank Middle East. He was British Ambassador to Afghanistan until his retirement from HM Diplomatic Service in April 2012. He also served as British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2007-2010), Iraq (2005-2006) and Sudan (2002-2005).

He was Head of the Middle East Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1998-2002. He has also had diplomatic postings in Tripoli, Abu Dhabi and Canberra and served as Deputy Head of the United Nations Department. He was also Non-Executive Chairman at Swindon Town Football Club from October 2012 to February 2013 until the sale of the club to Seebeck97 Ltd in February 2013.

H.E. Kadhim Mohammed Jawad Hassan

Prime Minister’s Senior Economic Adviser for Oil, Gas & Infrastructure

Federal Government of Iraq

H.E. Kadhim Mohammed Jawad has been the Economic Adviser to Iraq's Prime Minister since 2014. He is a member of many committees at the prime minister's office including the economic committee, the power committee and Japanese loan supervising committee. He was previously an Adviser at the Ministry of Trade from 2009-2014, and has worked in contracting and general trade since 1987. He has been an adviser in investment management (including trade, naval and real estate) in UAE and Jordan and has 21 years of experience in forming credits and investing banking facilities. He has provided a study to some Iraqi and foreign banks concerning the role of Iraqi and foreign banks in investment in Iraq. 

He holds a Bachelor's Degree in electrical engineering.

Abdulmahdy Hameed Hussain Al Ameedi

Director General of the Upstream Oil Contracts & Licensing Rounds

Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq

Prof. Dr Friedbert Pflüger

Director

EUCERS

Prof. Dr Friedbert Pflüger is Director of EUCERS at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and Senior Fellow of the Global Energy Centre of the Atlantic Council. He served from 1981 to 1989 as Speechwriter and Press Secretary to the former German President Richard von Weizsäcker. Friedbert Pflüger was a Member of the German Bundestag (1990-2006), Chairman of the Bundestag Committee on the Affairs of the European Union (1998-2004) and Deputy Minister of Defence in the first Merkel Government (2005/06).

In September 2009, Friedbert Pflüger became Professor for International Relations at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Friedbert Pflüger also has his own consultancies in Berlin and Erbil (Iraq) and is a Senior Adviser for Roland Berger. Friedbert Pflüger has written numerous books and articles and publishes frequently on energy issues.

Mustafa Ansari

Energy Economist, Energy Research

Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation, APICORP

Mustafa Ansari serves as an Energy Economist at APICORP, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation. He joined in May 2015 where he was responsible for the implementation of the strategy for the newly formed Energy Economics Unit and leading the work on the company’s monthly commentary as well as its Annual Energy Investment Outlook.

Previously he was an Economist at the Department of Energy (UK), where he covered posts on energy efficiency, decarbonisation of the UK’s heat intensive industries and on international and domestic oil markets. He led the economic analysis for the business case to establish the Green Investment Bank - the primary source of funding for projects that mitigated climate change. In 2014 - during a period of rapid declines in energy prices – he provided regular advice to ministers and government that helped them reinforce the UK’s policy on decarbonisation.

Mustafa is regularly invited as a keynote speaker and panellist at global forums and conferences to discuss critical challenges pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa, whilst his research is periodically cited in major media outlets including the Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Al-Arabiya and CNBC.

His practical experience is underpinned by a strong academic background, including completion of a Degree in Economics followed by a Masters in Development Economics. His areas of specialisation are climate change strategy, energy economics and MENA policy.

Farhad Alaaldin

Political Adviser to H.E. the President of Iraq Dr Fuad Massoum

Federal Government of Iraq

Farhad is the Political Adviser to H.E. President of Iraq, prior to which he was the Chief of Staff of KRG Prime Minister from 2009 to 2011 and then senior adviser to the KRG Prime Minister from 2011 to 2012. Farhad is a writer and observer on current political affairs in Iraq and Kurdistan and holds a Master’s Degree in Leading Innovation and Change from York St. John University.

Shawki Al-Khalisi

Head of Studies

Arab Petroleum Training Institute, OAPEC

Mr Al-Khalisi is Head of Studies in the Arab Petroleum Training Institute of the Organization of the Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and a private consultant on the Iraqi oil sector. Prior to this he was a senior consultant at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. He has been involved in several high-profile committees, including the Iraqi Oil Sector Strategic Planning Committee and the Transfer of Technology in the Energy Sector Committee. Mr Al-Khalisi has also worked in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, where he was involved in crude oil evaluation and refining studies.

He started his career in the Daura refinery in Baghdad where he worked as Refinery Manager. He then joined the State Industrial Design and Consultation Company which specializes in the design, implementation and management of refineries and petrochemical and fertilizer projects. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and a post-graduate diploma in Development Planning.

Ian Thom

Principal Analyst, Middle East Upstream

Wood Mackenzie

Since joining Wood Mackenzie in 2005, Ian has been involved in analysing the oil and gas industries of the Middle East, UK, Russia and Caspian regions.  Ian is currently responsible for Wood Mackenzie's Iraq upstream analysis. Ian is widely involved in regional oil and gas sector consulting projects, including opportunity screening studies, asset valuations, regional overviews, regional strategy studies and a number of major gas marketing projects.

Ian's previous positions included a role as a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Ian graduated from St Andrews University, in 2004, with a PhD in Physical Chemistry.