Professional Training Classes

Speakers: Val Chow and Asti Asra

• What is the Paris Agreement and why does it matter? 
• Assessing countries’ progress toward net-zero emissions goals 
• Three pathways to the energy transition 
• New technologies, new business models and opportunities for natural gas 
• Impact of energy transition on the energy and gas industries and its direction 

Speaker: Prakash Sharma

• What is green LNG? 
• Green LNG drivers and trends 
• LNG carbon intensity across the value chain 
• Delivered cost of green LNG

Speaker: Lucy Cullen

*Refreshments will be provided.

• Uses of scenarios 
• Scenario development process 
• Scenario building exercise (via virtual breakout rooms)

Speaker: Val Chow

*Lunch will be provided.

• What is biogas/biomethane? 
• What is the production process? 
• Comparison of biogas to biofuels 
• Cost of production 
• Biomethane’s role in EU and the US 

Speaker: Graham Freedman

• What is low-carbon hydrogen? 
• Drivers for hydrogen and policy
• Cost of production and transportation 

Speaker: Flor Lucia De la Cruz

• How much CCUS is needed and at what pace? 
• CCUS trends and players 
• CCUS costs 
• CCUS policy landscape 

Speaker: Mhairidh Evans

*Refreshments will be provided.

• Global outlook for upstream-related emissions by type/country/status 
• Comparison of emissions intensity by resource theme 
• Comparison of emissions intensity for gas assets in APAC region 

Speaker: Steven Knell

• Corporate new energy strategies 
• Emissions reduction commitments of the majors 
• Topical issues around corporate activity 
• Macro views of how various technological factors affect existing energy companies/organizations in the process of energy transition 

Speaker: Zoe Sutherland

• WoodMac Energy Transition Outlook (ETO), Accelerated Energy Transition (AET) scenarios (AET2, AET1.5) 
• Resilience of gas and LNG demand through the energy transition 
• Implications on supply developments and market dynamics under AET2 and AET1.5 
• Challenges and opportunities from the perspective of the gas industry 

Speaker: Massimo Di-Odoardo

Speakers: Val Chow and Asti Asra

With strong experience in the LNG and domestic supply chain, Asti provides commercial insight into market dynamics in the APAC region.
She develops Wood Mackenzie’s individual country analysis and infrastructure trends, using these insights to report on how country dynamics impact regional LNG markets.
Asti joined Wood Mackenzie in 2019 after 10 years with ExxonMobil, where she was the Head of LNG Market Development and worked across the value chain for both LNG and pipeline gas.

Education
MA, International Economics and Finance, University of Queensland
MSc, Engineering Business Management, University of Warwick
B.Eng, Electronics Engineering, Sheffield University

Elena joined Wood Mackenzie in November 2021. She works with the Carbon team to improve and expand the Emissions Benchmarking Tool, provide clients with more intelligence in recent developments in the carbon landscape, and share Wood Mackenzie’s view on future developments and trends in carbon markets and mechanisms.
Elena joined from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where she had worked since 2015, most recently as an economist in the office for financing sustainable development. She was the focal point on taxation and climate, advising senior government officials from low-income countries on the development of policies that generate revenues while protecting the environment. She focused on carbon pricing and on the role of taxation in attaining environmentally-related sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Previously, she was a senior economist for Palantir Economic Solutions and a senior advisor at Eni; in both roles, she provided commercial, economic and strategic advisory to improve the value of economic opportunities in the oil and gas upstream.

Education
MPA, Environmental Science and Policy, Columbia University.
MSc and BSc, Economics, Bocconi University.

Val leads Wood Mackenzie’s Gas & LNG Research team in Asia Pacific, delivering unique insight into trends and disruptors impacting regional and global gas markets. His focus is on helping businesses grow and transform through the energy transition, drawing on more than 15 years of international experience with strategy development, market analysis, business transformation, and project/programme leadership in the energy industry.

Val rejoined Wood Mackenzie after eight years with Shell in Europe, during which he drove business transformation initiatives in Shell Energy Marketing & Trading, developed energy scenarios in Group Strategy & Portfolio, and delivered gas master planning studies in Projects & Technology.

In his prior role at Wood Mackenzie, Val led consulting engagements across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, advising governments and businesses on a wide range of policy, strategy, and commercial issues. Earlier in his career, he was in Accenture’s Resources operating group where he worked with clients in the oil & gas, mining, and utilities industries.

Lucy is a principal analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s Asia Pacific Gas & LNG team, primarily focused on supply, demand, contract and price analysis for the Northeast Asian markets.

Lucy joined the team in Singapore in 2019, having spent over six years with Wood Mackenzie research in the UK. Lucy was part of the global gas research team in the UK with responsibility for developing European gas supply analysis. Lucy joined Wood Mackenzie in 2012 as an intern in the Energy Markets research team, producing long-term energy balances by looking at inter-fuel competition and energy demand drivers.

Lucy has also worked on a number of consulting projects in the areas of gas monetisation, market entry and opportunity screenings and cost analysis in Europe, North Africa and the Caspian.

Education
Lucy holds an M.A. (Hons.) in international relations from the University of St Andrews, UK.

Flor is a subject matter expert in hydrogen and emerging technologies, working for our Energy Transition Practice. She models hydrogen markets, tracks deployments, policy, investments and technology trends, and analyses the adoption of hydrogen in industrial processes.

Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Flor led the innovation team at IDOM and developed low carbon and circular economy projects. She also worked as a process engineer at IDOM on gas projects in Brazil, Colombia, Poland and Morocco.

Flor worked as a researcher for the Strano Research Group while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mhairidh leads Wood Mackenzie’s global research on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

Mhairidh and her team provide insight and strategic analysis on the CCUS landscape to project developers, technology providers, investors and governments. Her work includes cost assessments, economic modelling, market and policy tracking.

Mhairidh previously spent seven years as a lead analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s upstream oil and gas division, focusing on the offshore supply chain and the North Sea region. Before joining Wood Mackenzie in 2014, she spent six years in commercial and project management roles in the subsea oil and gas sector.

Mhairidh is an alumni of Scotland’s Future Industry Leaders Programme and enjoys engaging with the wider industry.

Mhairidh holds a BEng(Hons) in Biochemical Engineering from University College London and an MSc from the University of Strathclyde Business School.

Massimo joined Wood Mackenzie in 2007 and is now VP in the Global Gas and LNG Research team based in London. ​

Massimo has almost 20 years of experience in the energy industry. He has held various positions at Wood Mackenzie, including in the Consulting team where he was VP in the EMEARC Gas and LNG practice.​

Massimo has an extensive knowledge throughout the gas industry value chain gained by leading several consulting projects while at Wood Mackenzie – advising NOCs, IOCs and European Utilities on global gas/LNG pricing and contracting dynamics as well as financial players in asset transactions.​

Massimo coordinates a team of 40+ analysts globally to define Wood Mackenzie’s view on global gas/LNG demand, supply, contracting and pricing dynamics. He regularly engages with clients, including at C-Suite level, and speaks at key gas/LNG events to articulate Wood Mackenzie’s view. ​

Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Massimo worked for 5 years in the Strategy Department of Eni SpA, where he supported Eni’s senior management in defining Eni’s Master Plan and advised on LNG investment decisions.​

Massimo holds a Ph.D in Development Economics from “LUISS” University, Rome

Prakash has over 25 years’ experience in energy and metals & mining and climate change policy developments, ranging from change management to business strategy and commodity markets. He joined Wood Mackenzie in 2006 and is currently based in Singapore. He leads integrated analysis, energy transition and cross-commodity discussions in Asia Pacific. He has presented to board and senior-level management teams, as well as at major industry conferences.

Previously, Prakash spent two years in Beijing as head of China research guiding a team of analysts on China’s energy and economic trends, including supply-side reforms, inter-fuel competition and commodity prices. He has also led global coal markets analysis for five years delivering research on decarbonisation policies, impact of renewables, alternative scenarios and evolving patterns of supply and demand.

Prior to joining Wood Mackenzie, Prakash had extensive experience in the natural resources sector, including export-import of bulks and ferrous commodities for an established Canadian trading firm. He has also spent nine years in the mining industry specialising in business improvement, international sourcing and ISO 9001 certification.

Prakash is a Mining Engineer with an MBA from the International Management Institute in India.

Zoë is a principal analyst with our Upstream Corporate Research team, who brings more than 15 years of industry experience to her role.

She initially joined Wood Mackenzie in 2001 as an upstream analyst, where she contributed to the set-up and launch of the North American Frontier service. She later worked in our Gulf of Mexico Deepwater and Russian Upstream research teams, building a detailed knowledge of the sector across these regions, before joining the Corporate team in 2010.