Board Member Biographies

Albert Bressand is Professor in the Practice of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University where he directed the Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy. A member of the faculty of the World Economic Forum he was Special Adviser to Andris Piebalgs then EU Commissioner for Energy in Brussels from 2003 to 2008. Dr. Bressand served as the head of the Global Business Environment department at Royal Dutch Shell in London from 2003-2006 and as managing director and cofounder of Prométhée, a nonprofit, Paris-based think tank specializing in the emerging global networked economy. A French citizen and permanent US resident, he earned advanced degrees in mathematics and engineering at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, and a PhD in Political Economy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Rob Cassidy is currently a Senior Marketing Manager for Saudi Aramco’s US affiliate Saudi Petroleum International Inc.  In that position he is responsible for Saudi Aramco’s crude oil marketing in the Americas, customer relationships, and crude pricing.  In addition, he is responsible for fundamental analysis of crude markets in the Americas, monitoring regional crude supply, demand, logistical, and pricing trends for Saudi Aramco.
 
Prior to Saudi Petroleum, Mr. Cassidy worked at the Saudi Arabian Refining & Marketing Company (SAMAREC) in their New York City office called Petronal, prior to its merger with Saudi Aramco.  His focus was on marketing products surplus to Saudi Arabia, especially straight run fuel oil and LPG, to the Americas.  In addition, he provided global oil supply/demand analysis to the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum.
 
Previous to Petronal, Mr. Cassidy worked at the Energy Intelligence Group from 1989 through mid-1991.  During 1980-1988, he worked for Royal Dutch Shell’s New York affiliate Scallop Petroleum in the Planning Department, eventually becoming Planning Manager for this mini-conglomerate with interests in residual and distillate fuel oil marketing, lubricants, coal, nuclear, and seed-breeding.  Mr. Cassidy started his career in the oil business with Texaco in the company’s Finance & Economics Department as an oil economist.
 
Mr. Cassidy holds an MBA from CUNY’s Bernard Baruch College, a post masters degree in finance from New York University and a BS degree in economics/math from SUNY, Oneonta.

Jonathan Chanis has worked emerging markets and commodities trading and investment, for over 20 years.  Currently he is Managing Member of New Tide Asset Management, a company investing in, and trading a global macro and commodities strategy.  Previously, Mr. Chanis worked at Citigroup and Caxton Associates where he traded energy and emerging market equities, and commodities and currencies.  Earlier, Mr. Chanis ran AIG bank in Russia, and worked on the commodities desk of J. Aron & Co. (Goldman Sachs). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate School, CUNY and a BA in Economics from Brooklyn College.

Dermot Gately is professor of economics at NYU. He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank, the IMF, the US Dept. of Energy, the International Energy Agency, Exxon Mobil, ARCO, and Saudi ARAMCO. He has written more than two dozen articles on OPEC and the world oil market, and on the demand for oil and energy. He graduated from Holy Cross College, and he received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton.

Antoine Halff joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration as Lead Industry Economist in February 2011, following several years as Head of Commodity Research with Newedge, the world's largest broker-dealer, and its predecessor company Fimat, where he served as head of energy research. Earlier, he launched the energy practice of Eurasia Group, a political-risk consultancy in New York, and served as Principal Administrator of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, with special responsibility for oil demand forecasting and analysis. Prior to that, he was senior correspondent and at one point New York Bureau Chief of Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and other Energy Intelligence newsletters, following several years with the Dow Jones news wires.

In addition, Halff is Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, where he has taught energy related courses since 2006.  He is a member of the Beijing Energy Club and serves on the board of directors of the New York Energy Forum and the editorial committee of Geopolitics of Energy. Recent articles of his include "The Oil Market after the Crash: Old Fears, New Risks" (Journal of Energy and Development, 2009), "Energy Nationalism, Consumer Style: How the Quest for "Energy Independence" Undermines U.S. Ethanol Policy and Energy Security" (Stanford Law & Policy Review, 2008) and "Bridging the Energy Poverty Gap," the introductory essay to a special issue of Geopolitics of Energy that he guest-edited in 2010.  Halff received an advanced studies degree from the Paris-based Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in 1986. 

David H. Knapp is Chief Energy Economist and senior editor for Global Oil Market Analysis at Energy Intelligence Group in New York. He is Editor of EIG's monthly Oil Market Intelligence. He has analyzed energy markets for 40 years in the international, government, business and financial sectors. Dr. Knapp holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

John H. Lichtblau, chairman and CEO, Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, Inc. (PIRINC), is a leading international expert on petroleum economics. He joined PIRINC, a not-for-profit research organization that provides analysis of public policy matters affecting the U.S. petroleum industry, in 1956. He has written many articles on petroleum economics and has been a frequent witness at congressional hearings. Mr. Lichtblau did his undergraduate work at the City College of New York and graduate study at New York University.

Edward L. Morse is chair, Energy Forum Advisory Board and Managing Director and Global Head of Commodity Research, Citigroup. Formerly Head of Commodity Research for Credit Suisse,  Chief Economist, LCM Commodities and Managing Director and Chief Energy Economist for Lehman Brothers, his career in the energy sector spans more than two decades and includes senior positions in business, government, academia and publishing. Dr. Morse earned his doctorate in politics at Princeton University and his masters degree at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Katherine Spector joined CIBC Macro Strategy in 2010 to initiate research for the Commodities group based in New York. She is responsible for the bank’s energy price forecasts and market views, and her analysis includes global commodities supply/demand fundamentals, money flows, and geopolitics. In addition, she serves on the board of the New York Energy Forum, an educational organization dedicated to increasing public knowledge about energy issues.

Prior to joining CIBC, Ms. Spector headed the Global Energy Strategy group as part of JPMorgan’s Global Commodities Sales & Trading team. Previously, she was an Energy Strategist on the Deutsche Bank Commodity Sales & Trading desk, and worked as the editor of Oil Market Intelligence at the Energy Intelligence Group, which also publishes leading trade publications such as Petroleum Intelligence Weekly. She also worked as a consultant with Industrial Economics, Inc., in Cambridge, Mass. Her work there included litigation support for the deregulation of natural gas utilities.

Ms. Spector holds a degree in Political Science from Yale University, where her research focused on patterns of rent distribution in petrostates, and implications for democratization.

Jan Stuart is the Head of Energy Commodities Research and a Managing Director with the Fixed Income division of Credit Suisse. He and his team produce fundamentals driven analysis of oil and natural gas markets worldwide. Jan has held similar posts with Macquarie Bank and UBS since mid 2005.
 
Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Stuart was head of research for Energy Futures at Fimat, a subsidiary of Société Générale.  Before that he was head of research for the Global Energy Futures unit of ABN Amro.  Until December 2000, Mr. Stuart was editor of Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, in New York, and Bureau Chief of Petroleum Intelligence Week Publications in London as well as the editor of Oil Market Intelligence. Mr. Stuart started his professional career in the analysis of global energy markets with the International Energy Agency in Paris in April 1987. Mr. Stuart holds an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University in New York, an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University and a B.A. in International Affairs from the American University in Paris, France.

Cheryl J. Trench is President of Allegro Energy Consulting and focuses extensively on issues related to oil and gas pipelines and their markets. Her analyses cover a broad variety of issues, including pipeline infrastructure, the industry's safety performance and programs, and the impact of regulatory mandates. She routinely supplies analysis to the government, the press, and industry. Prior to establishing Allegro Energy Consulting in 1997, she was with the authoritative industry think tank Petroleum Industry Research Foundation for 22 years.

Louise Burke (Executive Director) is President of J.C. Energy, which provides consulting services to the energy industry. She has worked extensively in the energy sector analyzing pricing and markets for Mobil Oil Canada, Alberta Energy Company and Petroleos DeVenezuela. In addition, as Vice-President, Marketing for the New York Mercantile Exchange she supervised major energy and metals futures and options product launches and was closely involved in the successful growth of energy commodity markets. Ms. Burke holds a BA honors economics degree from the University of Alberta and an MBA from New York University.