Programme

Pat Roberts

Managing Director

LNG-Worldwide Ltd

Pat Roberts is an Associate Director of CWC's gas portfolio and is actively involved with the Steering Committee in the design and running of the LNG series of conferences. Pat is also active with CWC School for Energy and its training courses. Pat has seven years' experience as an independent consultant as Director of LNG Worldwide Ltd. She works with several key industry players as well as new entrants in the global gas and LNG markets. This covers the full commercial gas supply chain from strategy and market fundamental analysis to assisting with negotiating commercial agreements. Prior to independent consulting, Pat worked for the Shell group of companies for 24 years in their global oil and gas commercial divisions, culminating with a role as General Manager of Shell's international LNG business in the Atlantic Basin.

The Honourable Žygimantas Vaičiūnas

Minister of Energy

Republic of Lithuania

Mr. Vaičiūnas professional experience in the Ministry of Energy of Lithuania continues already for a decade – he has been serving in different roles, e. g. energy representative of Lithuania to the EU, adviser to the Minister and Vice-Minister. During his career Mr. Vaičiūnas focused on the fields of energy security and energy market integration. Mr. Vaičiūnas has put considerable efforts into successful accomplishment of such game changing energy projects like floating LNG terminal and electricity interconnections with Poland and Sweden.

Today Minister’s priorities include desynchronization of Baltic States electricity system from Russia and Belarus and synchronizing it with the EU, development of regional natural gas market, with focus on small scale LNG operations, and promoting of decentralized renewable energy production.

Thomas R. Hardy

Director, Public Affairs and Congressional Relations

U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)

Thomas R. Hardy was appointed on July 11, 2017 to lead the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, a U.S. government agency that helps U.S. businesses create jobs through the export of their goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. companies to global export opportunities by providing early project preparation assistance that matches U.S. technological expertise with overseas infrastructure development needs – creating lasting business partnerships between the United States and emerging market economies.

As the Agency’s Director, Congressional and Public Affairs he also leads the agency's outreach to Capitol Hill, the business community and press to amplify the success USTDA achieves through its commercially-oriented foreign assistance program. Earlier, Mr. Hardy served as the Chief of Staff and as a Country Manager for East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where he brought a trade policy background that led to a more active program in support of creating U.S. jobs through exports.

Prior to joining USTDA, Mr. Hardy served as an advisor to Commissioner Thelma J. Askey at the U.S. International Trade Commission and as a staff member of the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rob Smith

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil & Natural Gas

U.S. Department of Energy

Rob Smith currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas for the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy. He administers oil and gas programs, including research and development, analysis, and natural gas regulation.

Most recently, Mr. Smith was the Chief of Staff for the Office of Fossil Energy.  In this capacity, Mr. Smith assisted the Assistant Secretary with policy and management issues across the office’s research and development, energy security, and regulatory missions.  Previously, Mr. Smith was the Director of Planning and Administration in the Office of Oil & Natural Gas.

Before joining the Department of Energy, Mr. Smith worked as a program analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a manager at Deloitte Consulting, and an infantry officer in the U.S. Army.  Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy and completed a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Moderator: Pat Roberts

Managing Director

LNG-Worldwide Ltd

Pat Roberts is an Associate Director of CWC's gas portfolio and is actively involved with the Steering Committee in the design and running of the LNG series of conferences. Pat is also active with CWC School for Energy and its training courses. Pat has seven years' experience as an independent consultant as Director of LNG Worldwide Ltd. She works with several key industry players as well as new entrants in the global gas and LNG markets. This covers the full commercial gas supply chain from strategy and market fundamental analysis to assisting with negotiating commercial agreements. Prior to independent consulting, Pat worked for the Shell group of companies for 24 years in their global oil and gas commercial divisions, culminating with a role as General Manager of Shell's international LNG business in the Atlantic Basin.

Celso Silva

Executive Vice President

Golar Power Latin America

Proven track record supported by 30 years of domestic and international experience. Beginning his career working for FMC as offshore engineer, joined El Paso Corp to work at Bolivia to Brazil, Gas Pacifico pipelines. Developed and implemented 5.000 MW gas fired power plants in South America, former CEO of GasLocal Petrobras/Praxair LNG peak shaving plant, currently is the executive Vice-President of Golar Power for Latin America.

Celso has BsC in Mechanical Engineering, as well as Natural Gas Technology MsC degree. He has Oxford Princeton Program, Oil and Gas Trading MBA certificate and Oil and Gas Business Management certificate from Brazilian Oil and Gas Institute (IBP). He is International Gas Union member and AIPN member. Author and Co-authored research papers and publications prepared for the Gas and Oil sector.

Akos Losz

Senior Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy

Columbia University

Akos Losz is a senior research associate at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, where he focuses on global natural gas markets. Prior to joining Columbia, Akos was senior analyst at the New York office of Douglas-Westwood, a UK-based global energy consulting firm. Previously, he had worked in the Strategy team of MOL Group, a Hungary-based international energy company, and completed internships at CSIS, a leading Washington DC think tank, and at PFC Energy (now IHS Markit). Akos holds an MA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and completed undergraduate studies at the Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary.

Anatol Feygin

Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer

Cheniere

Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer 

Mr. Feygin joined Cheniere in March 2014 as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development. Mr. Feygin currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Cheniere Partners and as a Director of Cheniere Holdings. Prior to joining Cheniere, Mr. Feygin worked with Loews Corporation from November 2007 to March 2014, most recently as its Vice President, Energy Strategist and Senior Portfolio Manager. Prior to joining Loews, Mr. Feygin spent three years at Bank of America, most recently as Head of Global Commodity Strategy. Mr. Feygin began his banking career at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. as Senior Analyst, Natural Gas Pipelines and Distributors. Mr. Feygin earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at NYU.

Patrick Hughes

Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations

NextDecade

Patrick Hughes joined NextDecade as Vice President, Corporate Strategy, in September 2017. In this role, Patrick is responsible for corporate strategy and business development activities including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships. In addition, Patrick oversees Investor Relations for NextDecade.

 Prior to joining NextDecade, Patrick was a Partner in the Investment Banking and Advisory (IBA) group at Height Securities, a Washington, D.C.-based broker-dealer. During his tenure at Height, Patrick focused exclusively on the energy and industrials sectors and he and his team were widely recognized as leading financial advisors in the global LNG marketplace.

 While at Height, Patrick was an energy research analyst from January 2009 until March 2015, during which time he developed a significant LNG practice and, in that capacity, detailed knowledge and expertise across the competitive landscape of U.S. LNG projects. He led Height’s IBA group from April 2015 to September 2017.

Patrick was previously a senior associate in the energy and natural resources equity research group at FBR Capital Markets. Before entering the financial services industry, Patrick facilitated projects in Middle Eastern countries for a Washington-based strategic communications contractor, and served as a case manager for a business intelligence and corporate security firm. Patrick was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He holds a B.A. in Political Economy and Mandarin Chinese from Georgetown University.

Moderator: Dan Rogers

Partner

King & Spalding

Daniel Rogers is a partner in the Global Transactions Practice Group and practices in the firm’s Singapore office. His practice centers on international energy projects and transactions, energy-related infrastructure development and finance, commodities marketing and trading, and transportation projects and transactions. He works on projects and transactions involving oil & gas, power, petrochemicals and shipping, and water, where he represents sponsors, lenders, suppliers, transporters, processors, operators and marketers in all aspects of the international energy value chain.

Alfredo Chamat

General Manager

Calamari LNG

Business Administrator, 22 years of experience in the Colombian private sector. 17 years in the commercial and financial areas of a Gas Distributor Company with 700 K end users, 2 years in a port operations Company and 3 years in TENARIS pipeline manufacturing for the oil industry.

Active participation in natural gas expansion projects in the Dominican Republic and Peru.

For the past year I have been General Manager of Calamari LNG, Company in charge of import and trading of LNG in Colombia; with the commitment to ensure the supply of LNG for Thermo generation on the Caribbean coast.

Michael Proskin

Managing Director, IBCM Global Power & Renewables

Credit Suisse

Michael Proskin is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Investment Banking division, based in New York.  Mr. Proskin is a member of the Power and Renewables Group and is responsible for coverage of a variety of clients including investor-owned utilities, IPPs, developers, LNG companies and financial sponsors.  Recent relevant experience includes serving as Financial Advisor on Freeport LNG’s $1.3bn equity private placement and as sole global coordinator on Freeport LNG’s Train Two $4bn commercial bank facility as well as serving as Joint Lead Arranger for nearly $2.0bn of project financing completed for Panda Power Funds.  Mr. Proskin received a Bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, with highest honors in Economics and a Master's degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University.

Jason Feer

Head of Business Intelligence

Poten & Partners

Jason Feer is the Global Head of Business Intelligence at Poten & Partners

Prior to joining Poten in 2014, served as COO Americas for Argus Media based in Houston starting 2011, and from 2003 through 2011 as the head of Argus’ Asia Pacific business, where he was responsible for managing Argus’ business East of the Suez Canal. In this role, he oversaw the development of new products focused on petroleum, LNG, LPG, coal, base oils, biofuels and other products.

With more than 25 years’ experience in global energy markets, Jason has worked in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the US. His specialties include markets, project development and the politics of oil.

He is a frequent commentator on oil affairs and has appeared on CNBC, the BBC and other television and radio outlets.

Luke Taylor

Senior Managing Director

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners

Luke is a Senior Managing Director with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. Luke has significant experience investing in the infrastructure sector, and sits on the board of Golar Power, a downstream FSRU and related LNG and power infrastructure provider, the General Partner of Sanchez Production Partners, Ironclad Energy, and Tidewater Holdings, and is a former director of Paradigm Energy Partners, Casper Crude to Rail, Orion Holdings and Northstar Renewable Power.

Prior to joining Stonepeak, Luke was a Senior Vice President with Macquarie Capital based in New York. Luke has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business (Distinction) from the University of Otago (New Zealand).

Donald Hubbard

Managing Director, Global Energy Infrastructure

Barings Alternative Investments

Don Hubbard is a Managing Director and Head of the Energy Infrastructure Sector within Barings Alternative Investments, the private equity direct investment component of Barings.   Barings is a U.S.-based asset manager with approximately $300 billion of assets under management; the company has a global presence with offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.   The Energy Infrastructure Sector invests in operating or development stage power and energy infrastructure assets including oil and gas gathering systems, gas processing facilities, oil and gas pipelines, LNG-related infrastructure, power generation, transmission and other long term contracted power and energy-related assets.  The Energy Sector’s geographic focus is primarily growth economies and opportunistically in developed regions.   Prior to Barings, Don was a Managing Director with the BW Group and was seconded as the CEO and Project Manager of Antillean Gas Ltd. to design and develop LNG receiving terminals and power generation assets in Latin America and the Caribbean.    Previously, Don was a Managing Director at The AES Corporation where he was tasked by the COO to establish the Global Integrated Gas Program.  Don was also the CFO of AES Africa Power Company where he shared responsibility for the development and then management of an active portfolio of operating assets in Sub-Saharan Africa.   Earlier in his career, Don was an investment banking professional with Morgan Stanley (UK), UBS and Alex. Brown & Sons.   Don holds a B.Sc. degree from the United States Naval Academy and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

John Akridge

Co-Founder

Height Securities

John Akridge is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Height Securities. Mr. Akridge co-founded Height in 2008, a regulatory-focused investment bank for institutional investors and companies. Today, the firm provides investment analysis in key regulated sectors by integrating fundamental and policy research to better understand the financial impact across the capital structure. After five years of building its reputation through its research, Height launched an Investment Banking and Advisory (IBA) group, which has since raised hundreds of millions of dollars as growth equity for investment banking clients.  Prior to Height, Mr. Akridge served as Senior Vice President and Head of Arlington Sales Trading at FBR until 2008. He has more than 20 years of sales and trading experience. Mr. Akridge received his B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Erik Codrington

Managing Director, Project Finance

MUFG Union Bank

Erik Codrington leads MUFG’s project finance team in the energy sector and has over 25 years of project finance experience. Prior to joining MUFG in 2011, Erik spent 17 years with Citi, JPMorgan, and UBS primarily focused on the project financing of energy and infrastructure assets, as well as acting as a senior advisor to the US Department of Energy. His experience includes over 70 transactions spanning debt capital markets, bank market, ECA/MLA financing, and advisory roles.  Erik has successfully closed transactions in upstream, midstream, and downstream oil & gas, thermal and renewable power, electrical transmission, LNG, petrochemicals, mining, and infrastructure. Recent lead bank roles include Cheniere Energy Partners, Cameron LNG, Freeport LNG, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, NET Mexico, and Tenaska C-Solar South. Notable advisory/capital markets experience includes Florida Southeast Connection, Southern Lights Pipeline, Nassau Bahamas Airport, Phoenix Park Gas Processors, and Canaport LNG. Erik holds a BA in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA in Finance from Duke University Fuqua School of Business. Prior to entering banking he served as a shipboard engineering officer in the United States Navy.

Nick Bellamy

Managing Director, Energy & Infrastructure Group

Crédit Agricole CIB

Nick Bellamy is a Managing Director in the Energy & Infrastructure Group at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank where he leads a team that is responsible for origination, structuring, and execution of project finance transactions in the power and energy sectors.   He has over 20 years of experience in banking and in addition to project finance has worked in leveraged finance and high-yield capital markets.   He holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont.

Anthony Licata

Executive Director, Infrastructure Finance & Advisory

J.P. Morgan

Anthony Licata is an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan and is a senior transactor on the firm’s Infrastructure Finance and Advisory team. Anthony has over 15 years of project and infrastructure finance experience on Wall Street.

Anthony is primarily responsible for originating, structuring and executing project financings in North and South America which involve bank loans, investment grade and non-investment grade bonds, FX and interest rate derivatives and commodity derivatives.

Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Villanova University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Giancarlo Ortega

Principal Investment Officer

International Finance Corporation

Giancarlo is a Principal Investment Officer at IFC's Global Power Group within the Natural Resources department.  In his role as Principal Investment Officer, the core of his activities comprises acting as team leader in the origination, processing and commitment of complex and landmark transactions in the power space across all power technologies.   He has closed multiple transactions in the renewable energy space, including hydro power, wind and solar power as  well as thermal generation exceeding 3GW of new installed capacity.  Recently his investment focus has been on LNG to power, leading  the commitment of IFC's first integrated LNG to power transactions in Panama and Brazil.  He also manages key global power relationships for IFC and plays a key role in shaping IFC's strategy globally for IFC's power business.

Prior to joining the Global Power Group, Giancarlo was the sub regional head for IFC's infrastructure business in Mexico and Central America responsible for origination, processing, commitment and portfolio management of transactions.  During his eleven years at IFC Giancarlo has transacted across the core infrastructure sectors and across regions throughout the world including Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America.   

Moderator: Charlie Riedl

Charlie Riedl is the Executive Director for the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG), focused on effectively advocating on behalf of the LNG industry. As Executive Director, Riedl works with CLNG member companies, regulators, legislators and other key stakeholders to provide credible and educational information about the economic and environmental benefits of LNG.

Prior to joining CLNG, Charlie worked at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and at a exploration and production company focused on natural gas market development and government relations. Charlie’s experience in the natural gas industry includes regulatory, upstream production, downstream and pipeline development projects, as well as natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Charlie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from The Ohio State University and lives with his wife and two daughters in Washington D.C.

Dallas Smith

Detachment Chief

U.S. Coast Guard Detachment Chief, Liquefied Gas Carrier National Centre of Expertise

LCDR Dallas Smith is the Detachment Chief for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Liquefied Gas Carrier National Center of Expertise (LGC NCOE) located in Port Arthur, TX. Here he supervises a team of liquefied gas subject matter experts who provide technical advice to both the industry and the Coast Guard for all foreign and U.S. flagged vessels and barges that carry liquefied gases in bulk, LNG/LPG terminals, LNG Bunkering, and LNG as a marine fuel. In addition, his team creates and reviews USCG policy, regulations, procedures and standards for liquefied gas carriers, liquefaction and regas terminals, LNG bunkering operations, and LNG fuel systems.

LCDR Smith reported to the LGC NCOE in June 2014 with over 14 years of Coast Guard experience. He recently completed the Coast Guard’s 1-year Merchant Marine Industry Training (MMIT) program with Excelerate Energy and Cheniere Energy, both world renowned leaders and world renowned in the LNG industry. While in the program, LCDR Smith gained invaluable experience and knowledge of LNG vessel and terminal operations and the development & construction of LNG liquefaction terminals and floating, storage, regasification unit (FSRU) vessels.

LCDR Smith reported to the LGC NCOE in June 2014 with over 14 years of Coast Guard experience. He recently completed the Coast Guard’s 1-year Merchant Marine Industry Training (MMIT) program with Excelerate Energy and Cheniere Energy, both world renowned leaders and world renowned in the LNG industry. While in the program, LCDR Smith gained invaluable experience and knowledge of LNG vessel and terminal operations and the development & construction of LNG liquefaction terminals and floating, storage, regasification unit (FSRU) vessels.

LCDR Smith is a Senior Marine Inspector and Foreign Gas Carrier Examiner with additional qualifications and experience in both marine casualty investigation and waterfront facilities. He holds an M.B.A. with honors from Liberty University (2016), B.S. degrees with honors in Technology Management and Organizational Leadership from University of Houston (2010), an A.A.S. in Electronic Engineering from Thomas Edison State College (2003).

LCDR Smith's military awards include the Coast Guard Commendation Medals (2), Coast Guard Achievement Medals (2), the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, and numerous other personal and team awards.
LCDR Smith is originally from Jacksonville, TX and now lives in Nederland, TX with his wife, Tiffany, and their three children Blake (16), Brayden (9), and Addisyn (4).

David C. Stubbs

Director, Properties and Environmental Compliance

JAXPORT

David C. Stubbs is the Director of Properties and Environmental Compliance for the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT).  In his role, David is responsible for all property acquisitions/dispositions, evaluation of land lease proposals, development of port properties for non-port related functions, environmental compliance and project permitting, LNG Market Development, Green Initiatives and seeks sources of Capital funding through grants and other available programs.  David has served in this capacity since joining Jaxport in 2003.

Prior to joining JAXPORT David served as a development officer for a national Real Estate Investment Trust.  He was responsible for development of executive office parks and the sale and purchase of multi million dollar office buildings.

David has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Florida, is a licensed Florida real estate broker, and holds the Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) designation.

David is a Jacksonville native.  He is married with two daughters and four granddaughters.

Aziz Bamik

General Manager

GTT North America

Aziz Bamik joined GTT, the leading engineering company in the shipping and storage of LNG and other liquefied gases, in 1999 and has served as General Manager of wholly-owned subsidiary GTT North America (GTT NA) in Houston since its formation in 2013.  Based in Houston, he manages all the activities in the American continents.

Before assuming this position, he occupied various positions at GTT SA in France, including R&D Engineer, Project Manager, and Director of Business Development.  As Project Manager, for nine years he was in charge of the relationships with Shipbuilding Yards (China, Korea, Japan) with the delivery of approximately 100 LNG carriers, including the Regas-LNGCs, Large and very Large LNGCs for Qatari Projects, etc.  As Director of Business Development, for almost four years he was in charge of the relationships with Shipowners, Charterers, Gas Companies, EPCs, Engineering Companies, Classification Societies, etc.

Mr. Bamik is currently a member of AAPA (American Association of Port Authorities), NAMEPA (North American Marine Environmental Protection Association), and Program Committee of the LNG X events, the largest international LNG event.  He is a frequent speaker and contributor to SGMF, SIGTTO, U.S. Coast Guard Senior Executive Forums, and other prominent industry events around the world.

In early 2017 Mr. Bamik was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award for his advocacy of the safe, clean, and secure transport and use of liquefied gases within the maritime industry.

Mr. Bamik received his degree in Engineering from “Ecole Supérieure de l’Energie et des Matériaux” in France.