UOG 2015 Day 3
Click on speaker names to view their personal bios.
Thursday, 19 November 2015 – Day 3
Registration Open from 8:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Exhibit Hall Open from 8:00 AM – 2:30 PM
8:30 AM – 9:15 AM
Exhibit Hall Refreshments
9:15 AM – 9:30 AM: OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER
H.E. Ambassador Francesco Maria Talò, Ambassador of Italy to Israel20 August 2012 Ambassador of Italy to the State of Israel
- Born in La Spezia, August 16, 1958
- Degree in Law Summa Cum Laude (University of Rome, July 19, 1982)
- Enters Diplomatic Service on March 1st, 1984
2011 – 2012 Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Afghanistan and Pakistan
2007 – 2011 Consul General in New York
2006 – 2007 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Directorate for American Countries, Director for South America
2005 – 2006 Prime Minister's Office, Deputy Diplomatic Advisor
2002 – 2005 Prime Minister's Office, First Counsellor (Diplomatic Advisor’s Staff)
2000 – 2002 Permanent Representation to the United Nations in New York, First Counselor
1998 – 2000 Permanent Representation to the United Nations in New York, Counselor
1997 – 1998 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of Cabinet
1996 – 1997 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Secretariat
1995 – 1996 Task Force for the organization of the Italian Presidency of the EU
1995 Embassy of Italy in Bonn, Counsellor for Economic Affairs
1991 – 1994 Embassy of Italy in Bonn, First Secretary for Economic Affairs
1988 – 1991 Embassy of Italy in Tokyo, First Secretary
1987 – 1988 Embassy of Italy in Tokyo, Second Secretary
1985 – 1987 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Press and Information Service
Lieutenant in reserve of the Carabinieri Corps
Ambassador Talo’ is married and has three children
With ENI’s recent discovery of the Zohr field in Egypt offshore, Italy and Israel are now placed to potentially supply Europe with gas in the future.
This will be an insightful keynote to open the final day of UOG 2015.
9:30 AM – 11:00 AM: SESSION 7
KEY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN ISRAEL’S OIL & GAS MARKET
The government and private industry encourage investment for existing oil and gas assets and infrastructure. This session will provide sequential presentations and multiple presenters discussing these topics and also identify the key challenges, drivers and restraints in the country’s oil and gas industry and the impact of these metrics.
Simon Weintraub, Partner, Yigal Arnon & Co. (Session Moderator)Simon Weintraub is a partner in the international department and banking group at Yigal Arnon & Co., with a focus on cross-border lending transactions in general and specifically in the Oil and Gas space. Simon regularly represents global banks and financial institutions investing in Israel and has been involved in some of the largest cross border transactions involving Israel in recent years including most recently where Simon acted for the joint book-running managers JP Morgan, CitiGroup and HSBC in a US$2 billion private placement of senior secured notes issued by Delek and Avner and also in the case of acting for Barclays Bank Plc, as arranger, Bank Mizrahi Tefahot, as facility agent and a number of Israeli institutional lenders in a US$225 million credit facility and re-financing transaction with Dor Gas Explorations Partnership, a partner in the Tamar field.
Terence Klingman, Director, Chief Investment Office, UBS Wealth Management Terence Klingman is an equity analyst at the UBS Chief Investment Office. He joined the Israel CIO team in March 2015, focusing primarily on South African and Israeli listed equities as well as supporting broader EEMEA equity coverage.
During the preceding 8 years, Terence served as head of sell-side research for Israel's largest investment houses-Psagot, Meitav and Excellence.
Terence has extensive experience in the banking and financial services industry having served as CFO of Investec Bank Israel and Head of Operations at HSBC Israel. Terence holds a B.Com (Hons) degree specializing in Accounting from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Expertise: Equities
South Africa, Israel
Languages: English, Hebrew
Oded Distel, Director, Invest in Israel, Israel Ministry of Economy
Shlomo Alfia, Senior Partner, Oil & Gas Leader, EY Israel Shlomo Alfia is a Senior Partner at EY Israel. He has 22 years of experience in providing audit, taxation and consulting services to Oil & Gas companies operating in Israel and abroad and assists them in creating their business models in Israel.
He has also accumulated vast experience in the energy field and has provided services to leading companies including: Avner Oil & Gas Exploration, Delek Drilling, Noble Energy, Woodside, Delek Energy Systems, Yam-Tatis Project, Tamar Project, Leviathan Project, ATP, Isramco Negev 2 LP, Modiin Energy LP, AGR, Lapidot, Israel Opportunity and others.
Shlomo is a graduate in Accounting & Economics and holds a BA Cum Laude in Social Sciences from The Open University. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 1991.
11:00 AM – 11:15 AM: SPECIAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER
H.E. Thessalia Salina Shambos, Ambassador of Cyprus to IsraelMs. Thessalia Salina Shambos, presented credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cyprus to HE the President of the State of Israel Reuven Riblin, on August 6, 2015.
Ms Shambos joined the Diplomatic Service of the Republic of Cyprus in September 1998, serving for four years at the Multilateral Department of the Political Division, with competence in UN issues such as Human Rights, Women’s issues and addressing global terrorism.
From 2002 to 2006 Ms. Shambos was posted at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece, where, from 2003 onwards she served as Deputy Head of Mission, covering also Romania and Albania.
In 2006 she was posted as Deputy Head of Mission/Consul General at the Embassy of Cyprus in Rome, which included parallel accreditations to Malta, the Swiss Confederation and San Marino.
In September 2008 Ms. Shambos returned to Cyprus and was placed at the Department of Bilateral relations with EU partners and neighbouring countries, as Deputy Head, with responsibilities for Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asia desks.
In September 2009, she was appointed as Head of the aforementioned department, which concurrently covers the EU perspective of the Western Balkans, and EU relations with Eastern Partnership countries, the Russian Federation, South Caucasus, and Central Asia, the position which she held till July 2015.
Ms. Shambos has represented Cyprus in a number of expert committees and conferences at regional, EU and UN levels and was part of the Nicosia core team for the 2012 EU Council Presidency of Cyprus. She has also attended numerous courses on diplomacy and International relations.
Ms. Shambos holds the position of Minister Counsellor, and has been awarded the rank of Officer in the Order of Merit of the Hellenic Republic.
Ms. Shambos studied Political Science at Pace University in New York, USA, graduating
summa cum laude, in 1995, and was granted the Political Science Award. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Studies - Political Science from Stockholm University, Sweden. She also has a background in Biomedical sciences from Aberdeen University, UK.
She is fluent in both Greek and English, and has knowledge of French and Italian.
She is married to Dr. Stavros Bashiardes (Ph.D. Genetics).
She has two sons, Phaedon (age 4) and Alexandros (age 2).
She was born in Athens on January 14, 1973.
“Cyprus is a major part of the East Mediterranean oil and gas future. Bilateral and regional cooperation in the oil and gas sector between the Eastern Mediterranean countries can strengthen the role each country can individually play in the European and International gas markets”
Another intriguing keynote as part of our final day of UOG 2015.
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Coffee Break and B2B Meetings
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM: SESSION 8
REGIONAL ENERGY OUTLOOK: ISRAEL AND THE NEW MEDITERRANEAN ENERGY NETWORK
The emergence of Israel as a Mediterranean energy player presents a regional strategic change. This shift in the relations of Israel with its political environment follows three distinct junctures: the energy and strategic cooperation with Egypt and Jordan, the discussions with Cyprus and Greece, and the multifaceted relationship with Russian energy strategy.
Clare Freeman, President & CEO, Texas-Israel Chamber of Commerce (Session Moderator)
Mehmet Ogutcu, Chairman, Global Resources Partnership, Executive Board Member, Genel Energy plc.Mehmet has more than 30 years of successful track-record in development, investment, government, diplomacy, international organisations, and energy business.
Currently based in London, Mehmet serves as chairman of Global Resources Partnership, an independent non-executive director on the boards of Genel Energy plc and Yasar Group of Companies, and a special envoy for The Energy Charter in Brussels for MENA and Eurasia regions. He also leads the recently created Bosphorus Energy Club, an exclusive gathering of the senior executives and leaders in finance, energy and politics across Turkey, Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa.
He provides strategic advice to several major natural resources and finance corporations on business growth, investment deals, fund-raising, strategic stakeholder alignment, and risk mitigation.
In his early career, Mehmet worked as deputy inspector on the board of Is Bankasi, Turkey’s largest private bank, and undertook projects as NATO Research Fellow and EU’s Jean Monnet Fellow. He was a prominent diplomat, having worked on critical “economic diplomacy” dossiers in Ankara, Beijing, Brussels and Paris, and later as an advisor to the late Turkish Prime Minister, Turgut Ozal.
After leaving the foreign services in 1994, Mehmet joined as a senior staffer at the International Energy Agency heading Eurasia, Asia-Pacific and Latin America programme and the OECD in Paris as principal administrator managing international investment outreach over 11 years.
Mehmet was for six years (2005-2011) the global director for BG Group Plc. in the UK, managing high-level government engagements and new business development around the world. He also worked as the chairman of the International Advisory Board of Invensys plc until 2014.
He was most recently nominated by the Turkish government for the secretary-general position of the world’s largest energy organisation, International Energy Forum, based in Riyadh, and became one of the top two contenders. Mehmet is a graduate of Turkey’s “Mulkiye”, a symbol of the Republican meritocracy, similar to the French École nationale d’administration, London School of Economics (MSc) and College d’Europe (MA), Bruges.
He is an occasional lecturer at London School of Economics’ Enterprise Executive Programme, Harvard University, Dundee University, University of Reading and Peking University’s School of Government since 2005.
As part of The London Speakers Bureau he often speaks at key international and regional conferences around the world and writes in newspapers on future trends, development, investment/finance, energy/food/water nexus and geopolitical matters.
Mehmet is fluent in Turkish, English, French and Chinese (conversational).
Joel Braunold, Executive Director, Alliance for Middle East Peace Joel Braunold serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of over 90 different organizations working in every sector of society building relationships between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
Joel has been working at the intersection of civil society and geopolitics for the past six years. A columnist for Ha’aretz.com, his work has been published in numerous national and international publications including the New York Daily News, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, the Hill and the Daily Beast. He has delivered guest lectures at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Loyola Marymount University, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and at Bar Ilan University.
He works regularly with the US State Department, USAID, the National Security Council and Congress on the needs of the peace building community. Outside the US, Joel has worked with national governments across Europe, multilateral institutions and parts of the Arab world.
Joel is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and holds a BA(Hons) in philosophy from Bristol University. He is the recipient of the Avi Schaefer Peace Innovation Prize, is a senior fellow for the Alliance for Youth Movements and holds Honorary Life Membership to the National Union of Students (UK) and the Union of Jewish Students (UK).
Amir Foster, Expert Consultant, Oil & Gas IndustryAmir Foster is a private consultant in the Oil & Gas industry, working with international and national energy companies as well as financial institutions, investors and the Israeli government. He assists them in market research and analysis; valuation; risk assessments; governmental policy; understanding the Israeli regulation and business ecosystem; strategic partnerships and relationships in Israel.
Foster Consulting Group offers its services on a broad range of subjects in the Israeli and the Levant Basin Oil & Gas market. As an Israeli leader in commercial intelligence for the energy industry, Foster Consulting Group assists companies and policy makers in navigating the complex local Oil & Gas marketplace. With robust proprietary data and models they forecast and evaluate companies, projects, initiatives and the ever changing geopolitical environment.
Prior to his work as a private consultant, Amir was a Senior Financial Analyst in the Israeli stock exchange marketplace, building his career as one of the pioneering figures in Israel in financial analysis and projections in the Energy sector.
Amir worked as a Senior Equity Analyst at DASH, one of Israel’s leading & largest asset management firms managing more than $20 billion, where he focused on growth in the Energy sector.
Amir holds a First Class Honors’ BA from the Executive Business Management Program, where he also received a Rectors Honor & Academic Center President Honor award. He holds an MsC in Finance from Tel Aviv University.
Ariel Ezrahi, Energy Advisor to the Quartet (invited)
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Closing Remarks
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Exhibit Hall Luncheon, Networking & B2B Meetings
