Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for all stakeholders working in the gas and energy sector.
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David CloseDirector, Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre, University of Queensland
Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: Gas phase out: impossible or inevitable?
David is an experienced research geoscientist and energy industry executive who has studied and worked across the UK, North America, and Australia. He holds a D.Phil. in Marine Geophysics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.Sc. (Hons 1st Class) from the University of Tasmania. David has extensive technical, commercial, and operational experience, and has led stakeholder engagement, land access, management and environmental approvals on a variety of projects. David has extensive expertise in the international and domestic oil and gas industry and has a deep interest in the broader energy industry, and energy and environmental policies.
David's arrival at UQ coincides with a pivotal phase in the energy transition. The Centre plays a vital role in undertaking leading-edge, independent and rigorous research to inform the natural gas and broader energy industry as it responds to the various national and international social, technical, economic and environmental challenges of decarbonisation through the energy transition, as well as informing new energy projects and technologies.
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Stephen HartyChief Executive Officer, GLNG Operations, Santos GLNG
Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How are international conditions impacting Australian domestic gas?
Stephen Harty is Chief Executive Officer at GLNG since 2019 and has responsibility for the overall management, safety and operation of the GLNG project. With over 25 years of energy experience, Stephen has worked in a variety of operations, project development and marketing roles.
Stephen has a keen interest in the Australian east coast gas market, and has been heavily involved in the development of the ADGSM, Code of Conduct, and each of the HOA’s negotiated since 2017.
Stephen is also a non-executive director of CS Energy Limited, a Queensland owned energy company that generates and sells electricity, an energy retailer to commercial and industrial businesses, and is an investor in new energy assets including gas power generation, renewable hydrogen, solar and wind farms, and battery storage.
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from the University of Ballarat Australia, a Master of Business Administration from Deakin University Australia, and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. -
Tatiana HermannPartner, Squire Patton Boggs
Tatiana Hermann is a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, a full service global law firm. Tatiana is an energy and infrastructure lawyer with over 20 years of international experience advising on project development, corporate transactions, joint ventures, various commercial and operational contracts and long-term revenue stream agreements across all types of energy and infrastructure assets, in particular upstream oil and gas, domestic gas and LNG projects, conventional power and energy transition projects. Tatiana’s cross-border practice involves advising oil and gas companies, project proponents, financial institutions, LNG and gas buyers, sellers and traders on project development, and acquisition and disposal of assets and project interests, as well as LNG marketing and LNG procurement across the Asia Pacific region and Eastern Europe. Tatiana started her career as an Australian lawyer with BP Australia supporting its upstream business and the North West Shelf LNG project. Her previous roles include secondments with financial institutions’ energy desks in Hong Kong and in Sydney.
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Saul KavonicHead of Energy Research, MST Financial
Session: FIRESIDE CHAT: The state of the domestic gas sector and the need for further investment
Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: Politics, policy, and practicality: when being right isn't enough
Saul is Head of Energy Research, MST Financial. Prior to joining MST in 2024, Saul was Head of Energy and Resources Research at Credit Suisse for over 5 years, covering the energy, bulk miners and green metals sectors. He frequently presents at leading industry conferences in the region, is the top ranked energy analyst in Australia according to industry surveys, and is a regular gas and energy commentator in print and broadcast media. Saul has previously worked in the energy sector in commercial, research and government policy roles. He has worked in commercial and strategy roles at Woodside Energy, Australia’s largest oil and gas company, and was the principal analyst in Australasia for Wood Mackenzie, the world’s leading energy consultancy. He has also worked at M.H. Carnegie & Co, one of Australia’s largest Venture Capital funds, and has worked in economic development policy roles for the United Nations and African Union Commission. Saul is a member of the industry advisory board for the University of Western Australia Oceans Graduate School and a co-founder of Refugees Welcome Australia. Saul holds degrees in Law (Honours) and Chemical Engineering (Honours) from the University of Melbourne.
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Ying LuoChief Adviser and General Manager of Strategy, Amplitude Energy
Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: Politics, policy, and practicality: when being right isn't enough
Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What are cross sector solutions to the gas shortage crisis?
Ying has more than 15 years of experience working in the energy sector in onshore gas, LNG and hydrogen.
She began her career as a Graduate Mechanical Engineer with Santos. She progressed through several roles over the following decade including Production Engineer, and Operations Engineer where she implemented solutions to design and operability issues identified during the commissioning and start-up of the GLNG Project upstream wells and facilities.
Ying also worked in the Corporate Strategy and Planning team, providing oil, LNG and domestic gas market analysis, supporting the development of Santos’ 10-year strategic plan. Her last four years with Santos were as the Project and Strategy Lead for the Energy Solutions division. Ying developed, implemented, and maintained the Energy Solutions strategy and led a portfolio of emissions reduction, renewable integration and hydrogen projects.
Most recently she worked as the Senior Adviser, Hydrogen Development for the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group where she led the development of Australia’s largest renewable hydrogen production and blending project in Albury-Wodonga, Victoria.
Ying has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with First Class Honours; Bachelor of Science (Mathematics, Computer Science) with First Class Honours; Graduate Certificate in Energy and Resources Policy and Practice and an MBA. She was awarded the Sir John Monash Scholarship for Excellence at Monash University and the Exceptional Young Women in Resources from the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy.
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Keith OrchisonDirector , Coolibah
Keith Orchison AM has been engaged with the Australian resources and energy industry sectors since the mid-1970s. He was executive director of the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association and then chief executive of the Electricity Supply Association of Australia between 1980 and 2003. He served on the federal government’s Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council in the wake of 9/11 and was an energy consultant from 2004 to 2016. He has written extensively in the media on energy issues over the past quarter century and publishes a monthly newsletter. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004 for services to the energy sector. He is an honorary life member of Australian Energy Producers.
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Peter SadlerPartner, HFW Australia
Peter represents clients in a broad range of commercial disputes, particularly clients in the energy, mining, and industrial sectors, both in Australia and internationally. He specialises in economic, strategic and technical disputes, which are often resolved through arbitration. In addition to his litigation and arbitration expertise, Peter provides guidance to directors, senior public servants, and corporate clients in navigating regulatory actions and commissions of inquiry.
Peter is recognised for his determined and enthusiastic commitment to achieving the best possible outcome for his clients. Clients describe Peter as “accessible, responsive and pragmatic, and quick to understand industry-specific concepts” (Legal 500). He was also recognised in Doyle’s Guide 2024 as a “Recommended” Lawyer in Western Australia for Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution.
Peter is admitted to practice in Western Australia and to appear in the Federal and High Court of Australia.
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Jim SnowAdjunct Professor | Executive Director, University of Queensland Energy Initiative | Oakley Greenwood
Jim is the Executive Director of expert consulting firm Oakley Greenwood and is an Adjunct Professor with the UQ Energy Initiative.
Jim is a Chemical Engineer and has spent over 35 years in the energy sector working in all facets of the industry and has not only built assets in gas and electricity but is also recognised as a regulatory economics and market design expert, and regularly delivers public talks and workshops on industry issues.
He has also held senior executive positions with Energy Developments Ltd running their 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.