The 21st CWC World LNG Summit & Awards Evening

Masato Sasaki

Director, Oil & Gas Division

Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan

 Mr. Masato Sasaki has served as Director for Oil and Gas of the Agency for Natural Gas Resources and Energy at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and is in charge of policies for upstream development and procurement of oil and gas for Japan. He has a long carrier in energy affairs at METI as Director of Nuclear Facilities Development and Public Relations Division, and as Director of Energy Strategy Office.

He obtained his LLB from the University of Tokyo (1995).

Jeong Joon Yu

President & CEO

SK E&S Co., Ltd.

Mr. Jeong Joon Yu is President & CEO of SK E&S and President of SK Group’s Energy & Chemicals Committee.

Having served as Chairman of Korea Independent Power Producer Association from 2014 to 2015 and Chairman of Korea District Energy Association from 2016 to 2017, Mr. Yu has been contributing to development of the Korean energy business.

He has been leading the LNG business of SK Group essentially. To cover the global market, he has expanded significantly the company’s city gas business that used to only focus on the Korean market, completing the LNG value chain of the upstream, the midstream and the downstream.

Alaa Abujbara

Chief Commercial & Shipping Officer

Qatargas

Alaa Abujbara is the Chief Commercial & Shipping Officer of Qatargas. 

With over 23 years of experience in the energy industry, Alaa has been a key member of the Qatargas Management Leadership Team since 2011.

In his current role he is responsible for marketing, customer relationship management, the network of international offices that cover Korea, China, Japan and South East Asia, production planning, shipping and contract administration across 77 million tonnes of annual LNG production, helium, other associated products and domestic gas for Qatar.

In 2006 he assumed the position of Marketing Director of Qatargas, in which he led the global long and short term LNG Marketing activities and managed the overseas offices in Japan and China.

Alaa started his career with Qatargas in 1996 and held various positions of increasing responsibility. He was promoted to the position of Public Relations Manager in 1998 and then to General Manager of Japan Liaison Office in 2003, based in Nagoya, Japan.

Currently, he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of South Hook LNG Terminal Company Ltd. in the UK.

Alaa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Business Administration from Pierce University, Tacoma, Washington, USA.

Cristian Signoretto

Chief Gas & LNG Marketing and Power Officer

Eni S.p.A.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering, he fulfilled his military service as an Officer in the Italian Army. In 2000 he was awarded with a scholarship as a Ph.D. candidate at the Energy Department of Politecnico di Milano. In 2001 he joined McKinsey. He obtained a Master in Business Administration from Columbia University, New York, in 2005. After a short experience in Citigroup in New York, he continued his career in McKinsey.

In 2007 he joined Eni in the Office of the CEO. In 2008 he was appointed Senior Vice President for International Sales. In May 2012 he became Executive Vice President for International Markets and LNG Activities overseeing the global commercial activities, including affiliate companies and LNG marketing. Between 2016 and 2019 he took responsibility for the management of the integrated gas supply portfolio, including the relationships with long term gas suppliers and trading activities.

He has been Chief Gas & Lng Marketing and Power Officer since April 2019. He is also Chairman and CEO of Eni Trading & Shipping S.p.A.

He is a member of the Board of Directors in Union Fenosa Gas, a JV between Eni and Naturgy, and in BlueStream, a JV between Eni and Gazprom.

Martin Houston

Vice Chairman

Tellurian Inc.

Following his studies which commenced with a bachelor’s degree in geology from Newcastle University in 1979 and then a petroleum geology master’s degree from Imperial College London in 1983, Martin was employed by BG Group plc and its predecessor companies, retiring after 32 years in February 2014 as chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors.
He’s managed all forms of enterprise in the energy industry, has established a strong external reputation in the international gas business and is largely credited with being the key architect of BG Group’s world class Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) business. In recognition of this, in 2011 he was the first recipient of the CWC Group LNG Executive of the Year award.

He was previously (2004 – 2009) a non-executive director of Severn Trent plc, an integrated water and environmental company. He is a former director of SIGTTO, the international organization representing gas tanker and gas terminal operators worldwide. From 2008 to 2014 he was a vice president and board member of the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). Between 2015, and 2018 he was the chairman of TPH International, a boutique investment bank based in Houston, Texas.

In January 2014, he was appointed as a non-executive director of BUPA, an international healthcare group. He sits on the nominations committee and is chairman of the remuneration committee. He also sits on the board of Bupa Arabia, a JV company listed on the Saudi Arabian Tadawul and based in Jeddah.
In June 2014, he was appointed a non-executive director of CCC Energy. In February 2016, he co-founded Tellurian Inc. with Charif Souki and is now the vice chairman. Tellurian is developing a 27.5 mtpa LNG export project in Louisiana and is listed on the Nasdaq. In March 2017, Martin was appointed as vice-chairman of Hakluyt North America a company which provides independent, strategic advice to the world’s leading multinationals and financial institutions on complex issues.

In March 2018 he was appointed by Moelis and Company as Chairman of its global energy group.
Martin’s other activities include:
• Council member of the National Petroleum Council of the United States of
America
• Fellow of the Geological Society of London
• Member of the Development Committee of the Royal Opera House of London
• Member of the advisory board of the Global Energy Policy unit at Columbia
University’s School of International and Public Affairs, New York.
• Member of the advisory board of Radia Inc.

Steve Hill

Executive Vice President

Shell Energy

Steve is a member of Shell’s Integrated Gas and Shell’s Trading & Supply Leadership Teams with responsibility for Shell’s global LNG, natural gas and power marketing and trading activities. Steve is also responsible for Shell’s natural gas market development activities, Shell’s Integrated Gas strategy and Shell’s gas advocacy efforts.

Prior to the Shell purchase of BG Group, Steve was a member of BG Group’s Corporate Executive Team with responsibility for BG’s global LNG, natural gas and crude oil marketing and trading activities, and BG’s shipping business. Steve was involved in building and optimizing BG’s LNG business since joining the company in 2002 in roles in the UK, USA and Singapore.

Prior to joining BG Group, Steve worked for Mobil and subsequently ExxonMobil, in business development and trading roles in the UK, USA, Singapore, and Qatar.

Steve graduated from Durham University in the UK with a degree in Engineering and Management.

Jonty Shepard

Global Head of LNG

BP

Jonty joined BP Oil in 1992, undertaking several roles in operations, trading and refining. Appointed global head of LNG for BP in 2006, Jonty heads the global LNG trading business with offices in Houston, London and Singapore. This comprises a responsibility for the management of upstream contracts in Trinidad, Egypt and North West Shelf, merchant supply from Freeport in the USA and Coral LNG in Mozambique, a fleet of 16 LNG carriers, regas facilities in the USA, UK, Spain and Italy, the development of the Acu integrated regas and power project in Brazil as well as long term customer contracts globally

Susannah Pierce

Director, Corporate Affairs

LNG Canada

Susannah Pierce is Director of Corporate Affairs, LNG Canada – A joint venture of Shell, Petronas, Mitsubishi, PetroChina and Kogas. Susannah joined LNG Canada in 2013 and over 6 years has been responsible for the project’s federal and provincial regulatory approvals, indigenous relations and negotiations, government relations, media relations, community consultation and communications. Her leadership underpinned LNG Canada’s Final Investment Decision in October 2018, the largest private sector investment in Canadian history.

Prior to her role in LNG Canada, Susannah held several high-level senior management positions within Shell as well as Director, Government Affairs for TransCanada Pipelines based in Washington, DC and New York City. Susannah serves on the Board of Directors of the following non-profit organizations: The Vancouver Police Foundation, The BCBC Board of Governors, The Fraser Institute and The Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Susannah lives in Vancouver with her two children, Robert and Gabriela.