Paul Adams
Managing Director
Jemena
Paul Adams is the Managing Director of Jemena which owns and manages gas, electricity and water assets. Paul has over 30 years experience in the energy sector, having worked in Australia, the United States and United Kingdom. Paul is the incoming Chairman of the Energy Networks Association (from November 2013), a director of various companies including ActewAGL and SP PowerGrid in Singapore. He has degrees in engineering, finance and has completed executive training in Australia and at Harvard.
Olumide Adisa
Gas Systems Modeller
Energy Exemplar
Olumide graduated with a Bsc. in Applied mathematics and Electronics at North West University South Africa, in 2007 and completed his Honours in Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 2008. Olumide commenced his PhD in Australia the following year and graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2012. The core of his PhD thesis focused on mathematical modelling of gas storage in nanosystems. Prior to joining Energy Exemplar in 2014, Olumide worked as a researcher in the School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide for one year.
Olumide is a valuable asset to the success at Energy Exemplar, the leading developers of the best-in-class Electric and Gas Market Simulation Software, PLEXOS® Integrated Energy Model, with a customer base spanning the globe. PLEXOS integrated gas-electric or stand-alone gas model allows detailed modelling of the physical delivery of gas from fields, through pipelines and storage to gas and electric demands. Gas and electric models are solved simultaneously allowing decision makers to trade-off electric and gas investments, constraints and costs.
David Baldwin
Chief Executive Officer, Integrated Gas
Origin Energy
David Baldwin joined Origin in May 2006 and is responsible for Origin’s Integrated Gas business, which manages the Company’s portfolio of natural gas and LNG interests across Australia, New Zealand and internationally, as well as exploration and development activities focused on the growth of the gas and LNG businesses. Integrated Gas includes Origin’s interests in Australia Pacific LNG, as operator of the upstream and pipeline components of the joint venture and as gas marketing agent.
Prior to this role, David was Chief Executive Officer of Origin’s LNG business and was also previously the Company’s Chief Development Officer. Until April 2011, David was Managing Director of integrated energy company Contact Energy in New Zealand, in which Origin had a 53.1 per cent interest. He continues to serve on the Board of Australia Pacific LNG and is a former Director of Contact Energy Limited (2009 - 2015). Before joining Origin, David held senior roles with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (now Berkshire Hathaway Energy) in Asia and the United States, and with Shell in New Zealand and the Netherlands.
David holds a Master of Business Administration from Victoria University and a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) from Canterbury University.
Graeme Bethune
Chief Executive Officer
EnergyQuest
Dr Graeme Bethune has 30 years experience in economic and financial analysis, 10 years in senior business development and finance roles with Santos and founder of EnergyQuest in 2005. His interests include conventional natural gas, coal seam gas, LNG, oil and transport fuels. Graeme is the lead author of major EnergyQuest reports and consulting studies for energy producers, energy buyers and governments. He is often asked for expert comments by media outlets and is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences.
Steve Bielby
Chief Executive Officer
Gas Industry Company (New Zealand)
Steve Bielby commenced as the Gas Industry Company’s Chief Executive in January 2011. Prior to that he held executive positions in several New Zealand energy companies over more than 10 years and spanning most parts of the sector.
Steve has followed the development of the Gas Industry Company since its inception. He began his career as a lawyer and was a partner in a leading national law firm.
John Bradley
Chief Executive Officer
Energy Networks Australia
John Bradley is an experienced chief executive with diverse experience in the electricity, gas, water and resources sectors.
Prior to his appointment as CEO of the Energy Networks Association, he consulted to the International Monetary Fund on State Owned Enterprise reform. As the Director General of Queensland’s Department of Premier and Cabinet until 2012, John was responsible for leading strategic management in the Queensland public sector. Previously, as the Director General of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, he was responsible for policy, regulation and service delivery in natural resource management; conservation; biodiversity; offsets; and climate change. He managed program expenditure in excess of $1 billion per annum.
John was the CEO of the Queensland Water Commission during the State’s worst drought, responsible for structural, economic and other regulatory reforms in the South East Queensland water sector; drought management initiatives; water supply planning; and oversight of infrastructure delivery.
John led reforms to the utilities sector in multiple jurisdictions including the restructure and economic regulation of the $5BN Western Australian electricity industry and the $20 BN South East Queensland Water industry. Earlier in his career, he undertook regulatory reforms in Queensland’s gas industry; significant power and gas infrastructure procurement projects; and the implementation of energy market instruments such as the (then) 13% Gas Scheme.
John holds an MBA from QUT and BA from the University of Queensland. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently serves as a non-executive Director of Greening Australia Limited. He has previously served as a Director on the Boards of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, Families Responsibility Commission and on the University of Queensland Senate.
Chantelle Bramley
Senior Director for Strategy and Economic Analysis
Australian Energy Market Commission
Chantelle Bramley leads the AEMC’s division responsible for economic research and analysis, business planning and strategic communications. She was previously Vice President Strategy at Direct Energy, one of the largest energy retailers in North America. She also worked at TransAlta, Canada's largest publicly traded generator; was a Senior Economist for the Canadian Energy Research Institute; and was a competition economist at LECG London.
Peter Bury
Director of Strategy and Innovation
Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association
Peter joined PACIA in 2001 and has national responsibilities including development and implementation of PACIA’s Strategic Industry Roadmap and Innovation programs. Peter has 35 years experience in the automotive, materials handling, industrial & agricultural film; emergency services and association management sectors. This includes leadership and management responsibility across manufacturing; HSE, marketing and sales, R&D; issues management; risk and governance as well as strategic planning Peter managed development of the recently released Strategic Industry Roadmap for the chemicals and plastics sector as well as a range of other key program and policy initiatives. He provides industry leadership and advocacy for PACIA members on: the Board of the Green Chemical Futures facility at Monash University; the Board of the Victorian Centre for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing: the Board of the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association; the Australian Packaging Covenant Council and the Global Plastics and Environment network.
Simon Camroux
Manager Wholesale Markets Regulation
AGL
Since commencing work as an energy market regulatory analyst at Macquarie Generation almost 15 years ago, Simon has worked across the energy supply chain, from generation to retail and across a range of issues, from economic regulation to environmental sustainability.
In 2002, Simon was a member of the Parer Energy Market Review Secretariat where he led the development of the Review’s recommendation to implement an emissions trading scheme domestically.
More recently, Simon wrote the Energy Sections of the Victorian Government Climate Change Green and White Paper’s and was the Victorian Government representative on the Commonwealth Government’s National Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Target Working Groups.
Simon also attended the COP15 Climate Change Conference (Copenhagen) on behalf of the Victorian Government.
Simon is currently responsible for managing relevant National Electricity Market regulatory issues on behalf of AGL and holds a Batchelor of Economics (Hons) and Master of Environmental Law.
Cheryl Cartwright
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Pipelines and Gas Association
Cheryl’s career spans three decades in business, government, politics and media. Since 2005 Cheryl has led the Australian Pipeline Industry Association – representing the interests of approximately 500 members involved in all sectors of the industry – constructors, owners, operators, advisers, engineering companies and suppliers of pipeline products and services. Before her current role, Cheryl was Chief of Staff to then-Agriculture Minister the Hon Warren Truss MP, who is now Deputy Leader of the Opposition (obviously this could change before your conference!). She has also been Political and Media Adviser to a Federal Cabinet Minister and to an Opposition Leader. Before working in politics she reported on politics as political reporter for television news, on radio and as a print journalist. As well as working in Canberra’s Parliament House Press Gallery, Cheryl also spent two years as State Political Reporter for the Nine Network in Adelaide. In her position as a director of the Australian Gas Industry Trust, Cheryl is Australia’s representative on the International Gas Union’s Executive Council.
Richard Cottee
Managing Director
Central Petroleum
Mr Cottee began his career in the resources sector in 1980 when as a Business Development Manager for Itochu Australia; he was involved in the Tarong Power Station construction and the development of the Newlands-Collinsville-Abbot Point projects.
As a lawyer he was part of the legal team behind one of Australia's first non-recourse project financing concerning Oaky Creek. Whilst acting for Crusader Ltd, he was involved in the negotiations of the Cooper Basin Liquids Scheme. He joined Santos Ltd in 1982 as the Senior Marketing Officer for LPG & Condensates before being relocated to Queensland (QLD) after the Jackson Oilfield discovery responsible for all commercial aspects of its development and the construction of the Jackson-Moonie Pipeline.
He has been a Senior Associate of both Allens and Mallesons. In 1992 he joined Cyprus Amax Minerals Group in Sydney where he was a Director of Oakbridge Pty Ltd and Cyprus Australia Coal functionally responsible for coal marketing and sales and other matters. In 1998, he joined CS Energy Ltd, a recently corporatized Government owned corporation, during which time over 3 years of his leadership CS Energy doubled its profits and tripled its asset base. Importantly, whilst at CS Energy, the construction of the large combined cycle gas-fired power station at Swanbank E was approved. CS Energy entered into what is thought to be Australia’s first pure CSG purchase contract for Scotia gas from Santos. CS Energy also entered into letters of Intent with QGC and Arrow thus facilitating their public listings.
In 2001 he was named Managing Director of NRG Ltd for the UK & Scandinavian regions. He joined QGC as Managing Director in 2002 when it had a market capitalisation of $30 million. He took QGC from an early stage explorer to a major non-conventional gas supplier sold to the BG Group for $5.7 billion in 2008. Mr Cottee is also currently Non-Executive Chairman of Austin Exploration Ltd and is a principal in Freestone.
Mark Cully
Chief Economist
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Mark Cully commenced as Chief Economist for the department in September 2012.
Mark has a first-class Honours degree in Economics from the University of Adelaide. From 1992-95 he was a British Council Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Warwick obtaining a Master of Arts in Industrial Relations, while working at the Warwick Business School.
He has had a varied career in applied economic research at the intersection of government and academia.
In 1995 he was appointed head of research on employment relations for the UK Government, where he ran what was the world's largest survey of working life. He returned to Australia in 1999 to join the National Institute of Labour Studies as Deputy Director, and was then General Manager at the National Centre for Vocational Education Research for six years, running its statistical then research operations. In 2009 he was appointed Chief Economist at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and in that role chaired the OECD’s Working Party on Migration. He is a member of the CEDA Council on Economic Policy.
Ian Davies
Chief Executive Officer
Senex Energy
Ian Davies was appointed as the Managing Director of Senex Energy Limited in June 2010.
Prior to joining Senex, Ian held several senior positions in the resources and investment banking industries. He was a senior executive with QGC during the establishment of Queensland’s booming liquefied natural gas industry and previously an investment banker in Melbourne with Austock Corporate Finance and in London with Barclay’s Capital.
He commenced his career in Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ Energy and Mining division.
Ian lives in Brisbane and is married with three young children. Ian was named Businessperson of the Year in the 2012 Brisbane Lord Mayor's Business Awards.
Steve Davies
National Policy Manager
Australian Pipelines and Gas Association
Steve Davies is the policy adviser at the Australian Pipeline Industry Association, with responsibility for government relations and policy development and response. Policy issues on Steve’s mind this year include: economic regulation, gas market development and Short Term Trading Markets, clean energy regulations, fugitive emissions, energy efficiency, transparency, the treatment of pipelines in planning legislation, coal seam gas and today’s topic: workforce development and training.
Steve came to APIA from the Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (DRET), Offshore Resources Branch of the Resources Division in 2008. He has a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering, but long ago, through positions in industry associations and government, realised he preferred economics to engineering, and now he prefers to avoid technical matters.
Peter Dobney
General Manager Resources and Energy
Orora Group
As General Manager of Resources and Energy, Peter is responsible for energy procurement (with an annual spend over $100M/yr across Orora’s 50+ manufacturing plants in Australia and New Zealand). He also leads the energy management/energy efficiency program for Orora; the connection agreements (gas and electricity, transmission and distribution); and leads the project management of 18 Clean Technology Investment Program CO2 abatement projects valued at $8M with annual savings of over $2M/yr.
He is a current board member and past chairman of the Energy Users Association of Australia; Jemena Networks’ Customer Consultative Committees (electricity and gas) and member of the Direct Action Steering Groups on Safeguarding Mechanism and Facility Baselines of the Commonwealth Department of Environment.
Rod Duke
Vice President Downstream
Santos
Rod Duke is responsible for leading the downstream activities of the Santos GLNG project, including the delivery of the GLNG gas transmission pipeline and the LNG plant and port projects.
Rod has extensive global experience in the LNG industry and joined Santos in February 2013 from Singapore LNG Corporation, where he held the position of Senior Vice President. He has over 28 years of experience in project management, engineering, construction, commissioning, operations, commercial, marketing and business development areas of the upstream natural gas and LNG industry.
Ben Eade
Executive Director
Manufacturing Australia
Ben Eade has worked with Manufacturing Australia since its inception in 2011, helping the organisation to become a strong champion for Australia’s large manufacturing base.
Prior to joining Manufacturing Australia as its Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Eade consulted extensively to corporate, not-for-profit and public organisations, focusing on Australia’s manufacturing, energy, environment and education and training sectors.
Greg Ewing
General Manager - Sydney
Engineers Australia
Greg is the General Manager of Engineers Australia (EA) Sydney Division. In this role, Greg is in charge of Sydney metro and NSW regional operations of the peak body for engineering practitioners in Australia. Greg served EA’s Northern Division as the General Manager from November 2013, prior to his appointment at Sydney,
Before moving to Australia in 2013, Greg was employed by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET) as Regional Development Manager for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cumbria. The role was as wide, varied and interesting as engineering itself. Most of Greg’s professional career was with the Scottish Government, a career that encompassed a variety of interesting positions, including Senior Management, People Development, Communications, Project Management, CPD Delivery and Relationship Management.
Martin Ferguson
Group Head of Natural Resources
Seven Group Holdings
Martin Ferguson has a long history of public service and work in economic and social policy.
From 1984 until 1990 Martin served as the General Secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers Union and from 1990 until 1996 as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). As a senior trade union official, from 1984 until 1996 he sat on the ACTU National Executive, participating directly in shaping and implementing many of the economic reforms of the Hawke and Keating Governments.
In March 1996, Martin was elected as a Member of the Federal Parliament in the seat of Batman, in Melbourne, which he held until retiring at this year’s election. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 1996.
During the Howard Government, Martin served in a range of economic shadow portfolios, including Employment and Training; Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Regional Development, Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Services and Population; Urban and Regional Development, Transport and Infrastructure; Primary Industries, Resources, Forestry and Tourism; and Transport, Roads and Tourism.
Upon the Rudd Government assuming office in December 2007, Martin was appointed the Minister for Resources and Energy and the Minister for Tourism, and acted as the Chair of the Standing Council on Resources and Energy and the Ministerial Council for Tourism. He held the Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolios until March 2013, when he resigned from the Ministry.
Martin chairs a Tasmanian Government advisory panel into the state’s timber industry; is chair of an advisory board to the Australian oil and gas industry association, APPEA; is a special adviser to the current Federal Minister for Industry on gas development in New South Wales; and is an executive with the Seven Group Holdings with responsibility for natural resources. In late 2013, Martin was appointed as a non-Executive Director of British Gas.
Martin is also a pro bono member of the University of Western Australia’s advisory board on resources and energy. Martin has an honours degree in economics from Sydney University.
Tim Forcey
Energy Adviser, Melbourne Energy Institute
University of Melbourne
Tim Forcey is the Energy Advisor at the Melbourne Energy Institute. His role at the institute involves aspects of research, stakeholder engagement, and project management.
He is a chemical engineer employed in the past by the Australian Energy Market Operator, Jemena, BHP Billiton, and Exxon Mobil.
Anthony Fowler
Chief Executive Officer
Lochard Energy
Anthony has 20 years of experience in the Australian and US energy markets and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Lochard Energy, a leading Australian midstream energy business. Lochard Energy provides independent natural gas processing and is the largest supplier of storage services to the East Coast gas market.
Prior to joining Lochard Energy, Anthony was the Group General of Merchant Energy at AGL where he was responsible for managing Australia’s largest and most diverse generation fleet; as well as wholesale trading and management of the commercial and industrial retail business.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science (hons) from Monash University and a Masters in Applied Finance. He has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard.
Alex Fraser
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Energy Retailers Association of Australia (ERAA)
Before joining the ERAA in 2011, Alex worked for more than a decade as a senior advisor for energy, water and climate change issues in the NSW and Federal Governments as well as in the UK.
Her key areas of focus have included media and issues management, business strategy, the development and execution of large-scale campaigns, policy, events and stakeholder relations. Prior to working in Government, Alex worked in corporate marketing, sponsorship and media for over six years.
Alex studied Commerce at the University of Newcastle, majoring in Marketing Communications, Environmental Economics and International Trade and Finance.
Andrew Garnett
Director
Centre for Coal Seam Gas Sustainable Minerals Institute
Andrew Garnett is Professor and Director of the UQ Centre for Coal Seam Gas (as well as Director of the UQ CCS Program). The Centre for CSG includes all the main CSG-LNG project proponents and aims to be a leading provider of technical and social science research services in this unconventional sector. A former Shell and Schlumberger executive, Andrew has over 25 years’ world-wide experience with oil majors in conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration, appraisal and development projects. Prior to joining The University of Queensland, Andrew consulted widely on unconventional developments, most notably those with high GHG emissions footprints, and worked on the 500MW, 60 MT ZeroGen IGCC & CCS Project, as manager for Carbon Transport and Storage and ultimately as CEO and Project Director.
Peter Geers
Executive Group Manager, Markets
Australian Energy Market Operator
Peter is the Executive Group Manager, Markets, with the Australian Energy Market Operator. He has a broad role, including executive management for the Retail Markets and Metering, Settlements and Prudentials, Market Operation and Performance, Wholesale and Market Systems divisions. Previously, Peter led the development of the Wallumbilla Gas Supply Hub, the market design and legal teams for development and implementation of the Sydney and Adelaide wholesale gas Short Term Trading Market (STTM). Prior to his role at AEMO, Peter held positions as Manager, Gas Strategy at AGL, Electricity Trading Manager and Structured Deal Manager at TXU Australia. Before joining the energy industry Peter was a commodities trader in the grain and chemical industries with a variety of companies including Sumitomo Australia.
John Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer
Gas Energy Australia
John has worked in the energy sector over the last 16 years. He was appointed CEO of Gas Energy Australia in August 2015 after joining the Association in 2011 as its Manager Policy Development responsible for providing advice on industry and policy development issues relevant to the gaseous fuels industry. Before then, he worked in the federal government and provided advice on energy related issues including energy security, international energy policy and the legislative and administrative arrangements governing exploration, development and production of Australia’s offshore oil and gas.
Prior to 2000, John provided economic policy advice to the federal government on such diverse topics as industry and labour market policies, domestic and international economic conditions, Australia’s external accounts and competitiveness, fiscal policy and international and business taxation. Most of that time he worked in the Treasury which he joined in 1985 when awarded a cadetship. In 1996, he was seconded to work for the National Commission of Audit.
Prior to completing his Bachelor of Economics (Honours) degree and moving to Canberra, John worked as a laboratory technician in the automotive industry in Adelaide.
Kylie Hargreaves
Deputy Secretary, Resources and Energy
NSW Department of Industry
In October 2013, Kylie was appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary, Resources and Energy, a specialist division within the NSW Department of Industry (formerly known as NSW Trade and Investment). Her division has a variety of roles related to the effective, sustainable exploitation and management of the State’s Resources and Energy sectors.
Within NSW Department of Industry, Kylie has previously held the roles of Acting Deputy Director General for Industry, Innovation Hospitality and the Arts, Executive Director for Investment and Export Services and Executive Director for International Markets and Trade.
Prior to joining NSW Department of Industry in July 2009, Kylie spent 10 years overseas as Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner for the UK, Ireland and Israel; Senior Trade Commissioner for West USA and Senior Trade Commissioner for Spain and Portugal.
Frazer Hill
General Manager Gas and Water Networks
Jemena
Frazer Hill is the General Manager Networks Commercial for Jemena (www.jemena.com.au) responsible for the commercial leadership of Jemena’s gas, electricity and recycled water distribution networks. Frazer brings to his role a diverse breadth of experience with expertise in FMCG, media, financial services, government and not-for-profit sectors as well as across the entire energy supply chain. Frazer’s career has been built on relationship building and communication skills as well as passion, determination and resilience.
In leading the Networks Commercial function within Jemena, Frazer drives strategy and implementation of the revenue generation and revenue protection activities, including pricing, sales and marketing, major customer account management and the identification and development of new products and services. Frazer also leads Jemena’s ‘Natural Gas’ (www.gonaturalgas.com.au) marketing and advertising activities, which are a key plank in growing Jemena’s gas distribution network by over 185,000 new customers over the next 5 years as well as maintaining the gas culture within NSW.
Before joining Jemena, Frazer was a Project Manager with TRUenergy, a gas and electricity generation and retail business. His principal project was managing the pre-completion/separation requirements of the ~A$2.4B acquisition of the EnergyAustralia retail business and leading the activities to transition the Sales and Marketing and Wholesale Trading functions from EnergyAustralia to TRUenergy. [TRUenergy subsequently adopted the name and is now known as EnergyAustralia.]
Prior to EnergyAustralia, Frazer held senior consulting positions with Maximus International where his clients included Coca Cola Amatil, News Limited, QBE Insurance, Colonial First State, BNP Paribas, Pfizer, Coates and Tabcorp. Frazer’s early career began in the Australian Army where he developed best practice leadership, problem-solving and decision-making skills graduating in the top 5% of his Royal Military College class.
Frazer is a graduate of the University of Melbourne earning a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and holds a Masters in Professional Accounting from RMIT University and a Graduate Diploma of Information Systems Management from CQU. Frazer is a member of the Gas Committee within the Energy Networks Association.
Nina Hitchens
Senior Analyst
NERA Consulting
Stuart Jeffries
Director Gas Marketing
ExxonMobil
Stuart D. (Stu) Jeffries holds Bachelor Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Arts from Monash University.
He joined Esso Australia in 1994 and since then has worked in a number of engineering, commercial and management roles, supporting ExxonMobil’s Australian and PNG businesses. He worked in Malaysia from 1998 to 1999 and in Houston, Texas from 2009 to 2014 where he held several operations and engineering management roles.
Since April 2015, Stu has been Director of Gas and Power Marketing for Esso Australia, and provides management and oversight for commercial activities in addition to gas marketing responsibilities.
Stu is married to Wendy and has four children.
Mark Loquan
Chief Executive Officer Upstream Production
Yara Pilbara Fertilisers
Mark is the CEO of Yara Pilbara. The site, consisting of a wholly owned Yara world scale ammonia facility with a newly constructed technical ammonium nitrate facility (Joint venture between Yara and Orica) close to completion, represents one of the top contributors to the Upstream Segment of Yara International ASA, one of the largest mineral fertiliser companies in the world. Yara Pilbara is a prime example of using natural gas to go further downstream to produce value added products for fertiliser and the local mining sector, with a residential policy for its employees in Karratha and strong focus on safety, training and development. Since mid-2012, Mark has been responsible to integrate the previous stand-alone entity into a global operation as well as to develop strong linkages with the wider local/regional community, and to develop and share best practices at the company.
Mark, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad in 1982 and also completed his MBA at Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, North Carolina, USA in 1992. In 2002 Mark became the first local President of Yara Trinidad Ltd since its inception and remained in this role until 2008. From 2009 to 2012, he became responsible for business development in Angola and the Sub-Sahara Africa region working on Yara Upstream growth areas where natural gas could be used as raw material. With over 30years experience in the petrochemical industry, Mark has worked in Trinidad, USA, Europe, Africa and Australia.
Jeff Makholm
Senior Vice President
NERA Consulting (USA)
Dr. Makholm specializes in the economics of regulated infrastructure industries in the energy (electricity, gas, and petroleum products), transportation (pipelines, railroads, and airports), water, and telecommunications sectors. He has directed projects on competition, pricing, financing, privatization, and industrial development for many utilities and other infrastructure businesses in the US and more than 20 other countries.
In the US, Dr. Makholm has directed cases regarding tariffs, cost of capital, regulation, planning, competition, and restructuring for regulated businesses in many state and federal regulatory jurisdictions. Beyond the US, he has assisted regulated industries, governments, and the World Bank with regulatory laws, proposed financing plans, and the pre-privatization restructuring of regulated businesses.
Dr. Makholm has provided expert testimony and reports on over 150 occasions for electricity companies, gas distributors, gas and oil pipeline companies, or regulatory bodies involved in administrative, civil, and international arbitration cases concerning competition and market power, tariff design, financing, and cost of capital. He has appeared as an expert witness before numerous regulatory bodies and parliamentary panels abroad, including before the LCIA and the ICSID. He participated in key hearings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which led to US gas and electricity industry restructuring. He has also testified on market and regulatory issues before the Supreme Court in Victoria, Australia and before the High Court and Parliament in New Zealand.
In addition, Dr. Makholm participated in key gas industry reforms in Europe, where he directed three major restructuring projects. In Central and South America, he worked to reform and structure efficient and competitive gas industries. On behalf of the World Bank, Dr. Makholm led the first group of Western economists to China to study and recommend reforms to that country's extensive gas industry. He has also been heavily involved in the restructuring, pricing, and privatization of the gas and pipeline industries in New Zealand, Australia, Russia, and a number of Asian countries.
Garry Marsden
General Manager-Commercial
Leigh Creek Energy
Garry is an experienced manager, with a strong background in commercial activities and corporate development in the Australian oil and gas sector.
He is currently working as General Manager- Commercial with Leigh Creek Energy Limited, where he is heavily involved with the commercialisation of the large gas resource at Leigh Creek. Garry is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Eneabba Gas Limited, a small gas exploration company with interests in the Perth Basin in Western Australia.
In his previous roles, Garry worked in senior corporate and business development positions with AWE Limited for over a decade and prior to that he worked at Oil Search Limited as Investor Relations Manager.
Garry holds an Honours Degree in Applied Geology and is a recent graduate from the AICD.
Michael McCormack
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
APA Group
Michael (Mick) McCormack has been Chief Executive Officer of APA Group since 1 July 2005 and Managing Director since 1 July 2006.
Mick has over 25 years' experience in the gas infrastructure sector in Australia, and his career has encompassed all aspects of the sector, including commercial development, design, construction, operation and management of most of Australia's natural gas pipelines and gas distribution systems.
Mick is a former Director of Envestra (now Australian Gas Networks), the Australian Pipeline Industry Association and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
Euan Morton
Review Panel
Governance Arrangements for Australian Energy Markets
Euan Morton is a Principal of Synergies Economic Consulting and organisation he founded in 2004. Euan has over 20 years’ experience in resource economics, infrastructure regulation and competition policy. Prior to forming Synergies Economic Consulting, Euan was a Director of the Queensland Competition Authority (an organisation he had responsibility in Queensland Treasury for establishing) and Principal Advisor, Regulation at Queensland Electricity Reform Unit where he advised on the creation of the Queensland electricity market.
Euan’s experience in the gas industry includes appearing as an expert witness in several competition and pricing matters. He has also advised several pipeline companies on a range of matters including coverage, pricing and regulatory outcomes.
Euan has just finished serving on an Expert Panel charged with reviewing the governance arrangements in Australian energy markets for the COAG Energy Council. In 2005, he was appointed to an Expert Panel by the Ministerial Council on Energy to review regulatory arrangements associated with the ongoing reforms to energy markets. He is an Independent Expert under the National Electricity Rules and a member of the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Law Council of Australia.
Tim Nelson
Head of Economics, Policy and Sustainability
AGL Energy
Tim is the Head of Economics, Policy and Sustainability at AGL Energy. In this role, Tim is responsible for: AGL’s sustainability strategy; greenhouse accounting and reporting; AGL’s energy and greenhouse research; AGL’s corporate citizenship program, Energy for Life; and energy and greenhouse policy.
Tim is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Griffith University and has had several papers published in Australian and international peer-reviewed journals. He has presented at conferences in Australia and throughout Asia and Europe. Tim holds a first class honours degree in economics and is a chartered secretary.
Keith Orchison
Director
Coolibah Pty Ltd
Keith Orchison has been engaged in the Australian energy industry for 33 years, of which he spent 24 as chief executive of national industry associations representing the upstream petroleum and electricity supply sectors.
He was a founder of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, which he chaired in 2000. From 2003 to 2007 he served on the Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council set up by the Howard government and was chairman of its energy committee. He was also chairman of CSIRO's energy technology advisory committee in the late 1990s and was deputy chairman and the overseeing manager of the Australian Electricity Supply Industry Research Board through most of the 1990s.
In 2011-12 he was a member of the Federal Government's energy white paper reference group.
Keith was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 and was awarded the 2012 Sir Willis Connolly Memorial Medal by AusIMM for communication services to the resources sector. He also is a holder of the APPEA Gold Medal (now the Reg Sprigg Medal), awarded in 1994 for services to the petroleum industry.
Keith has been principal of consultancy Coolibah Pty Ltd since retiring from ESAA at the end of 2003 and has numerous clients for his communications services across the spectrum of energy stakeholders.
He edited the "Powering Australia" yearbook from 2007 to 2012.
He is a commentator on energy issues for "Business Spectator" electronic newspaper and has a new column in "Gas Today" magazine.
His "This is Power" blog and monthly newsletter on the Coolibah website are widely read in the energy industry.
In late 2012, in partnership with media company ArmstrongQ, he launched the "OnPower" website and yearbook to provide a new media focus on eastern Australia's electricity supply business.
John Pierce
Chair
Australian Energy Market Commission
Commissioner Pierce was appointed AEMC Chairman in June 2010. His commitment to industry and regulatory reform has underpinned his contribution to national energy reform through a number of senior roles including his tenure as Secretary of the Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism which followed 12 years of service as Secretary of the New South Wales (NSW) Treasury. He was a key adviser to Government and Chairman of the NSW Treasury Corporation.
Prior to his time at NSW Treasury he was Pacific Power Chief Economist. John holds a BCom (Hons) (UNSW). He was a Visiting Scholar at Boston University during 2004-2005 working on public sector performance management.
Malcolm Roberts
Chief Executive Officer
APPEA
Before joining APPEA in June 2015, Malcolm Roberts was Chairman of the Queensland Competition Authority.
He has considerable experience in industry associations, having held leadership roles with the Energy Networks Association, The National Generators’ Forum, the Australian National Retailers Association and the Housing Industry Association.
Dr Roberts has also worked in government as a policy adviser to ministers and in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He was an adviser and then chief of staff to Ian Macfarlane in 2001-04 and 2006-07.
Tennant Reed
Principal National Adviser – Public Policy
Australian Industry Group
Tennant Reed is Principal National Adviser – Public Policy at the Australian Industry Group. For the last six years he has worked heavily on climate and energy issues, advising Ai Group’s Leaders’ Group on Energy and Climate Policy, helping establish the Australian Climate Roundtable, and developing reports on natural gas supply, energy prices and energy efficiency. He also works on a range of issues related to manufacturing and innovation.
Previously he was an adviser in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, working on fiscal policy, stimulus and infrastructure. Tennant lives in Melbourne with his wife and son.
David Rynne
Chief Economist
Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines
David is the Chief Resource Economist at the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. This department is an economic development agency that enables the productive and responsible use of the state’s natural resources – water, land, mineral and energy resources. David and his team provide pro-active economic advice and public policy insight and analysis to grow the resources sector in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner.
Prior to joining NRM in November 2014, David was the Chief Economist and Director of Infrastructure and Economics at the Queensland Resources Council – a position he held for six years - and previously the Director of Economics and Taxation at the Minerals Council of Australia – a position he held for 4 years. David has also worked for the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a policy adviser and the Federal Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business as an economist. David has under and post graduate degrees in economics and business.
Clare Savage
Executive Director Policy
Business Council of Australia
Clare Savage joined the Business Council of Australia in August 2015 with the ambition of developing a suite of integrated energy and climate change policies. Clare has spent over a decade in the energy sector and has worked extensively on a range of issues including governance; climate change and renewables policy; electricity and gas market design; network pricing; and retail market regulation.
Prior to joining the BCA, Clare held executive positions within EnergyAustralia spanning corporate strategy; business development; policy & government affairs; and public affairs. Clare also held a number of roles at the Energy Supply Association of Australia (esaa) including Chief Executive Officer.
From 2001-2004 Clare was a Senior Policy Adviser on Energy and Commonwealth-State Relations with the Federal Department of the Treasury. Clare has a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and History) from The University of Melbourne.
Walter Schutte
GM Market Services
APA Group
Walter has over 20 years’ experience in the energy supply chain, including electricity and gas transmission, upstream and midstream gas, electricity generation and retail. He is now the General Manager Market Services with APA and is responsible for the Integrated Operations Centre (IOC), Product Development, Management of the APA Grid, and Market Regulatory Management.
Rod Sims
Chairman
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
Rod Sims was appointed Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in August 2011 for a five year term.
Rod has extensive business and public sector experience. Immediately prior to his appointment to the ACCC, he was the Chairman of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales, Commissioner on the National Competition Council, Chairman of InfraCo Asia, Director of Ingeus Limited, and member of the Research and Policy Council of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. Rod was also a Director of Port Jackson’s Partners Limited where he advised the CEOs and Boards of some of Australia’s top 50 companies on commercial corporate strategy over many years. Rod relinquished all of these roles on becoming Chairman of the ACCC.
Rod is also a past Chairman of the NSW Rail Infrastructure Corporation and the State Rail Authority and has been a Director of a number of private sector companies. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rod worked as the Deputy Secretary in the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible for economic, infrastructure and social policy and the Cabinet Office. He also worked as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Transport and Communications.
Rod Sims holds a first class honours degree in Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Economics from the Australian National University.
Rosemary Sinclair
Chief Executive Officer
Energy Consumers Australia
Rosemary Sinclair is the CEO of Energy Consumers Australia, established by the Council of Australian Governments Energy Council to enhance consumer advocacy on national energy market matters of strategic importance and material consequence for energy consumers, in particular household and small business consumers. ECA focuses on the long-term interests of consumers of energy with respect to the price, quality, safety, reliability and security of supply of energy services.
Rosemary is a Member (part-time) of the Australian Communications and Media Authority and a Director of the Wests Tigers Rugby League Football Club and Chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.
Previously Rosemary was CEO of Immediate Solutions, a boutique consultancy practice focused on strategy development, digital technology transformation, stakeholder engagement, governance and government relations; Director,
External Relations at the Australian School of Business (ASB), University of New South Wales (UNSW); Managing Director, Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG),
Rosemary has many years of senior large-scale operations, communications and strategy experience in business and government across telecommunications, media and education.
Rosemary was Chair of the Federal Government’s Regional Telecommunications Inquiry Review Committee from July 2011-2013.
Rosemary has held a number of Directorships on unlisted company and not-for-profit Boards.
Rosemary has degrees in Arts, Law and Business and a Masters of Commerce from UNSW. Rosemary is a qualified CPA and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jim Snow
Executive Director
Oakley Greenwood
After graduation as a Chemical Engineer (Fellow IChemE) - Jim spent 12 years in the Natural Gas Industry (AGL) holding several senior executive positions.
He has since then held senior executive positions with leading green generation business Energy Developments Ltd running their Business Development and Construction Group, was CEO of Hunter Electricity, CEO of Consulting for Energetics Pty Ltd and was a founding Vice President in Australia of the Boston based consulting firm Charles River Associates which evolved to become Oakley Greenwood in Australia.
Jim has worked across the energy (and water) sector. This has included price setting and forecasting, extensive economic regulatory submission work, demand side management, renewable energy generation (solar, tidal, wind, bio fuels), greenhouse gas mitigation and emission trading, extensive and complex modelling work as well as building generation plants, gas pipelines and electricity grid systems, CNG and LNG facilities, and managing energy retail operations.
Jim has also undertaken large assignments internationally including spending more than two years restructuring the entire electricity industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and advising on the restructure of the Malaysian electricity supply industry and associated incentives based regulation of the key monopoly assets of the country.
Jim has also over the last decade been actively engaged in negotiating major gas supply agreements for power stations across Australia with notable success – contracts typically exceed A$1 billion.
David Van
Managing Director
De Wintern Group
Founder and CEO of The De Wintern Group, David Van has over 20 years’ experience as a communications professional and is one of the world’s leading experts on managing reputational risk.
David has been called upon to manage some of Australia’s biggest issues and crises. He has guided a range of clients through three Royal Commissions (Longford, HIH and Victorian Bushfires), a number of inquiries conducted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and numerous commercial and regulatory court cases.
De Wintern was formed to provide organisations and industry bodies with counsel to solve the most intractable problems. The problems De Wintern solves include preventing industry damaging (or driving much needed) changes in legislation or budget allocation, fighting hostile takeovers or shareholder activism, and tackling activist groups that are attempting to tear down industries and destroy jobs.
David manages many of the country’s biggest advocacy campaigns utilising the tools and techniques developed for North American political campaigns where it is just as important to get people to do something as it is to change how they think.
De Wintern provides reputational risk management and stakeholder management services to the mining, energy, oil & gas, health and the banking & finance sectors.
Ed Willett
Tribunal Member
IPART Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal
Mr Willett has 25 years' experience in competition policy and economic regulation, with a particular focus on the economic regulation of utility services. He was a commissioner with the ACCC until 2013 with particular responsibilities for communications, chairing the Communications Committee and the inter-jurisdictional Utility Regulator’s Forum for 10 years, and was also a member of the Regulation and Prices Monitoring and Adjudication Committees. He also chaired the ACCC’s Energy Committee until 2005, when he was appointed an inaugural member of the Australian Energy Regulator. Prior to his time at the ACCC, Mr Willett was the inaugural Executive Director of the National Competition Council, and specialised in competition law and economic regulation at the Productivity Commission, where he he was the primary author of submissions to the National Competition Policy Review.
Ben Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Gas Networks
Previously, Ben was the Director of Strategy and Regulation and Chief Financial Officer at UK Power Networks (UKPN), a large electricity distribution company in the UK with 8 million customers, and also owned by the CK Group. Before joining UKPN in 2011 Ben was a utilities investment banker for fifteen years, working Europe, Asia and Latin America, most recently at Deutsche Bank.
Ben commenced with Australian Gas Networks Limited in March 2015.
Ways to engage - speaking opportunities are available
Present your company, showcase your leadership and demonstrate your expertise to the entire domestic gas value chain by speaking to this senior gathering of professionals from the Australia domestic gas industry.
Use this unique forum to demonstrate your value to the biggest players in the domestic gas sector. Speakers will assert themselves as leading suppliers and solution providers to the sector.
Call Jon Treherne on +61 (0)2 8188 7536 or email jont@questevents.com.au to discuss how we can put you in front of a highly engaged and receptive audience.