Speakers

Speaker: Liz Sturman
Speaker Liz Sturman
Liz graduated from Imperial College London in 1995 with a degree in Maths, and completed an MBA course in 2002. She joined Shell in 1995 as a reservoir engineer and undertook assignments in the Netherlands, Angola, Nigeria and Brunei. Her career included roles such as Wellsite Petroleum Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, …

Liz graduated from Imperial College London in 1995 with a degree in Maths, and completed an MBA course in 2002. She joined Shell in 1995 as a reservoir engineer and undertook assignments in the Netherlands, Angola, Nigeria and Brunei. Her career included roles such as Wellsite Petroleum Engineer, Reservoir Engineer, Business Planner and Economist, Asset Development Lead, Business Opportunity Manager, Lead RE, Chief PE and Development Manager before assuming her current position of VP Innovation and Digital for Deepwater in 2019. Through all these roles Liz maintained her passion for business delivery - creativity, competitiveness and commitment are the order of the day – and for staff development.


Outside work Liz has a variety of interests, from choral singing to amateur dramatics (both currently largely on hold due to COVID) and sport including running and netball. She lives in the US with her husband, daughter, dog and cats.

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Speaker: Linhua Guan
Speaker Linhua Guan
Linhua Guan is the CEO of Surge Energy America and the company just became the only E&P company recognized for both the 2020 Best Places to Work and Middle Market 50 awards by Houston Business Journal (HBJ). In 2019, the company also won HBJ’s inaugural innovation award for the breakthrough …

Linhua Guan is the CEO of Surge Energy America and the company just became the only E&P company recognized for both the 2020 Best Places to Work and Middle Market 50 awards by Houston Business Journal (HBJ). In 2019, the company also won HBJ’s inaugural innovation award for the breakthrough in shale oil development technology which broke the cognition that a 3+ mile horizontal well is the engineering and technical limits in shale oil industry.


Mr Guan has 20+ years of experience in the petroleum industry and worked for Star Energy International Corp., Statoil, Chevron and CNPC before joined Surge in 2018. He is a registered petroleum engineer in Texas and received a BE degree in Petrophysics and an MS degree in Geology from China Petroleum University. He also received an MS degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA degree from Rice University.

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Speaker: David Pantoja
Speaker David Pantoja
Mr. Pantoja has over 20 years of experience in A&D advisory, investment banking, private equity, as well as at operating E&P companies. In the E&P sector, he worked for 13 years at Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), Maxus Energy and ARCO International in reservoir engineering roles, mostly in the Permian Basin, …

Mr. Pantoja has over 20 years of experience in A&D advisory, investment banking, private equity, as well as at operating E&P companies.


In the E&P sector, he worked for 13 years at Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), Maxus Energy and ARCO International in reservoir engineering roles, mostly in the Permian Basin, Mid-continent, and Latin America.


In addition, he has worked for 7 years in investment banking at Citi, leading the International (Americas) A&D advisory practice, Credit Agricole and Scotiabank. His exposure included A&D, corporate M&A, ECM/DCM financing, and fairness opinions. Deal exposure spans on- and off-shore U.S., Canada, México, Latin America, Africa, and Europe.


David Pantoja holds an MBA in Finance from Rice University, a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.


He is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the Houston Energy Finance Group, and the Association of Financial Professionals. He is a Certified Treasury Professional and is working towards a Corporate FP&A accreditation.

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Speaker: Daniel Klein
Speaker Daniel Klein
Daniel brings over 12 years of experience in Oil & Gas from both Oilfield Services and Management Consulting. Currently he is a Manager in KPMG’s Oil and Gas Operations Advisory practice here in Houston. His recent focus have been in the areas of complex economic modelling, digital initiative prioritization, capital …

Daniel brings over 12 years of experience in Oil & Gas from both Oilfield Services and Management Consulting. Currently he is a Manager in KPMG’s Oil and Gas Operations Advisory practice here in Houston. His recent focus have been in the areas of complex economic modelling, digital initiative prioritization, capital project transformations, and performance improvement. Typical clients range from the C-Suite to engineering teams at the supermajors and private equity backed E&P companies.


Prior to starting with KPMG, Daniel spent nine years at Schlumberger working internationally within the Wireline segment both as a Field Engineer and a Product & Service Delivery Manager. He successfully delivered hundreds of reservoir characterization and intervention operations in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, UAE, and Angola.


Daniel graduated from Duke University with a dual degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. In addition, he holds a Professional Engineering license in Control Systems.

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Speaker: Akash Sharma
Speaker Akash Sharma
Akash is the Director of Strategic Advisory Services & Market Insights at Enverus where he works with multiple teams across the organization providing subject matter expertise on the Energy Industry for various product innovation and consulting efforts. His expertise lies in Unconventional Shale reservoirs with focus on Reserves and Production …

Akash is the Director of Strategic Advisory Services & Market Insights at Enverus where he works with multiple teams across the organization providing subject matter expertise on the Energy Industry for various product innovation and consulting efforts. His expertise lies in Unconventional Shale reservoirs with focus on Reserves and Production Analysis, Operational Optimization, Data driven modeling and Cross-Platform analytics. He has worked on advocacy for data-driven decision making and implementing transformational changes all across the energy value chain. Prior to joining Enverus, he worked as a Researcher at the University of Houston where he got his MS in Petroleum Engineering.


He also has a Bachelors in Petroleum Engineering from UPES India and is working on his MS in Analytics from Georgia Tech.

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Speaker: Hudson Chen
Speaker Hudson Chen
Hudson Chen has a BS, in Chemical Engineering, and a MS, in Petroleum Engineering. He has worked for DuPont and Schlumberger, before entering the world of Recruiting. Throughout his career, Hudson has placed hundreds of Mid to Senior professionals, in companies ranging from small, privately held organizations, to Fortune 100 …

Hudson Chen has a BS, in Chemical Engineering, and a MS, in Petroleum Engineering. He has worked for DuPont and Schlumberger, before entering the world of Recruiting. Throughout his career, Hudson has placed hundreds of Mid to Senior professionals, in companies ranging from small, privately held organizations, to Fortune 100 companies.


He specializes in the following industries:
O&G – Upstream and Downstream, including services and manufacturing
Data Science - Analytics and Machine Learning
Chemicals – Petrochemicals and Specialty


He is currently the Director of Recruiting Operations and Business Development, at Stark Recruiting Partners

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Speaker: Massiel Diez
Speaker Massiel Diez
Massiel Diez, also known as “Oilfield Girl” by her global online following, is co-host of Flipping the Barrel Podcast. By documenting her nontraditional career on Instagram and YouTube as a fresh chemical engineering grad from McGill University, the then-Schlumberger Wireline Field Engineer quickly rose to virtual stardom, sharing her passion …

Massiel Diez, also known as “Oilfield Girl” by her global online following, is co-host of Flipping the Barrel Podcast.


By documenting her nontraditional career on Instagram and YouTube as a fresh chemical engineering grad from McGill University, the then-Schlumberger Wireline Field Engineer quickly rose to virtual stardom, sharing her passion for the industry and encouraging young girls to explore oil and gas careers. Her authenticity and openness about the struggles and challenges of working away from home struck a chord with viewers, and her audience skyrocketed into the thousands, with close to half-a-million views in a short period of time.


In 2019, Massiel shed her oilfield career and moved into a sales role, but her passion for raising awareness and inspiring others to explore oil and gas careers persisted. As a joint effort with Jamie Elrod, Massiel launched Flipping the Barrel Podcast; a show dedicated to shining light on the oil and gas industry. In only a few short months, the show has already captured the attention of a global audience and is climbing the charts.

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Speaker: Arthur Lee
Speaker Arthur Lee
Arthur Lee is Chevron Fellow and Senior Strategy Advisor – Energy Transitions Team within Chevron’s Corporate Strategy and Sustainability group. He serves on the board of directors of the International Emissions Trading Association (2014 – present). Arthur was founding chair of the ARPEL Climate Change Working Group (1999 – 2004). …

Arthur Lee is Chevron Fellow and Senior Strategy Advisor – Energy Transitions Team within Chevron’s Corporate Strategy and Sustainability group. He serves on the board of directors of the International Emissions Trading Association (2014 – present). Arthur was founding chair of the ARPEL Climate Change Working Group (1999 – 2004). Arthur has been involved in a wide range of climate change issues from the science to the global policy, and business impacts from 1998 to now. He participated and continues to participate in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process since the third assessment report (2001). The IPCC recognized him (and other researchers) with a certificate for contributions to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize (2007). Further, he continues to participate in the IPCC in its Sixth Assessment serving currently as a Review Editor. Arthur was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve as a member of the National Climate Assessment Development and Advisory Committee (2011-2014), for which he received a signed recognition letter from President Barack Obama (2014). He continues to be an official observer on behalf of business and industry at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations each year since COP5 Bonn (1999) to COP25 (Madrid, 2019), representing IPIECA, the international petroleum industry association focused on raising environmental and social performance.

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Speaker: Russell L. Cotton
Speaker Russell L. Cotton
Russell is a Director in KPMG's Consulting Core Operations practice. He currently help's lead the risk infrastructure and operations analysis practice within KPMG's energy and natural resources team.Russell is a Director in KPMG's Consulting Core Operations practice. He currently help's lead the risk infrastructure and operations analysis practice within KPMG's …

Russell is a Director in KPMG's Consulting Core Operations practice. He currently help's lead the risk infrastructure and operations analysis practice within KPMG's energy and natural resources team.Russell is a Director in KPMG's Consulting Core Operations practice. He currently help's lead the risk infrastructure and operations analysis practice within KPMG's energy and natural resources team.


With over 15+ years of experience dealing with trading & supply, refining, and banking companies, his experience covers the front/LOD1, middle/LOD2 and internal audit/LOD3, digital transformation, analytics/modeling, risk control, risk management, operations management, internal controls, regulatory reporting, and system implementations.


He currently serves on the board of directors of AIDS Foundation Houston as the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committees. Additionally,  he is an ardent supporter of the community and avid Texas Longhorn graduate and fan!

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Speaker: Annie Shen
Speaker Annie Shen
Annie Shen is a principal consultant with Enverus, working in the Energy Analytics division. Her expertise is in conceptualizing and implementing advanced analytics-based solutions to optimize upstream oil and gas operations. She advises and trains clients across the world on a range of topics, including drilling and completions, production modeling …

Annie Shen is a principal consultant with Enverus, working in the Energy Analytics division. Her expertise is in conceptualizing and implementing advanced analytics-based solutions to optimize upstream oil and gas operations. She advises and trains clients across the world on a range of topics, including drilling and completions, production modeling and forecasting, minerals management, and development planning.


Prior to joining Enverus, Annie worked at Schlumberger in technical, commercial, and project management roles, delivering end-to-end downhole completion and reservoir monitoring solutions and managing a cross-functional safety team of 30+. She holds a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Oklahoma

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Speaker: Dan Kahn
Speaker Dan Kahn
Dan is a Sr. Partner Solutions Architect at AWS where he is responsible for driving digital transformation for companies within the energy verticals globally. He is the 2021 winner of the AWS “Shark Tank” Competition. After graduating from Brown University (2001) with a B.S. in Geology/Physics/Mathematics, Dan Kahn received his M.S. …

Dan is a Sr. Partner Solutions Architect at AWS where he is responsible for driving digital transformation for companies within the energy verticals globally. He is the 2021 winner of the AWS “Shark Tank” Competition. After graduating from Brown University (2001) with a B.S. in Geology/Physics/Mathematics, Dan Kahn received his M.S. in Geophysics from Georgia Institute of Technology (2004) with a thesis, Concentration of Methane Hydrate: A Study of the Blake Ridge. He then earned a Ph.D. from Duke University (2008), working at the Krafla, Iceland geothermal station and the Basel Hot Dry Rock Project with a dissertation, Crack Propagation in Hydro‐Fractured Reservoirs: A Study Using Double‐Difference Location Techniques.


Dan worked at Exxon as a Senior Geophysicist (2008‐2011), during which time he did structural and stratigraphic interpretation of the Austin Chalk Trend and was lead survey designer for the Ranridge and Papua New Guinea projects. He was an Exxon Gold Service Medallion recipient (2008). Dan joined ION Geophysical in 2011, where he specialized in the characterization of unconventional reservoirs through microseismic fracture imaging and analysis. He was co‐developer ION’s Java‐based microseismic tool kit, authoring 7 patents. Dan moved to Devon in 2015 where he was appointed to the core leadership group, charged with re‐designing Devon to implement real‐time, automated, full‐field reservoir characterization. He was responsible for overseeing data acquisition and analysis for the description of the dynamics of unconventional reservoirs, including microseismic, magnetotelluric, and time domain electromagnetics. Dan pioneered advances in the use of fiber optic techniques for characterizing the dynamics of hydro-fractured reservoirs and was named Devon’s Innovator of the Year. With this background, Dan co-founded and was COO of Reservoir Imaging Solutions, where partnerships and joint ventures were created with energy service companies to deliver a more efficient and cost-effective product for energy companies.


Dan was also a USA Olympic Trials qualifier in the Marathon with the “A” standard.

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Speaker: Liz Dennet
Speaker Liz Dennet
Liz is a passionate technologist with 12 years of experience pioneering novel technological approaches to solve pressing Energy challenges. Liz has deep domain experience in geology, geophysics, solutions architecture, and biotechnology including subsurface genomics and applied microbiology. She has demonstrated success working in roles of increasing complexity and scale spanning …

Liz is a passionate technologist with 12 years of experience pioneering novel technological approaches to solve pressing Energy challenges. Liz has deep domain experience in geology, geophysics, solutions architecture, and biotechnology including subsurface genomics and applied microbiology. She has demonstrated success working in roles of increasing complexity and scale spanning unconventional, deep water, and new energy applications globally. Liz holds a BS in geology from the University of Alaska Anchorage and an MS and PhD in geoscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she researched geomicrobiology on modern and ancient Earth as part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Liz’s passions include building things, solving problems, and stubbornly refusing to believe things are “hard”.

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Speaker: Olga Prieto
Speaker Olga Prieto
Olga is a Well construction professional proudly leading the Baker Hughes Integrated Well Services Engineering team through the journey of excellence, competence and standardization. Her career has gone from fundamental field roles as Supervisor Assistant and Field Coordinator to Senior management positions where she has acquired extensive experience in tendering, planning …

Olga is a Well construction professional proudly leading the Baker Hughes Integrated Well Services Engineering team through the journey of excellence, competence and standardization. Her career has gone from fundamental field roles as Supervisor Assistant and Field Coordinator to Senior management positions where she has acquired extensive experience in tendering, planning and execution of drilling and completions campaigns across variety of operational environments and geographies for more than 25 years.

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