AIPN Launches 2016-2017 Board of Directors

AIPN Launches 2016-2017 Board of Directors

HOUSTON, Texas (May 26, 2016) – The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) held its annual board of directors meeting May 9, at The Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in The Woodlands, Texas. The event included a meeting of the board of directors where the results of AIPN’s 2016-2017 board election were confirmed and incoming board members took office, and a reception that evening for AIPN members and others in attendance at the organization’s inaugural AIPN International Petroleum Summit held May 9-12.

AIPN’s next major events are: the 2016 Model Contracts Workshop in Banff Canada, June 28 – 30; the Short Course: International Oil & Gas Law, Contracts, and Negotiations Part 1 “From Concept to Discovery,” Sept. 26 – 30, 2016; and Part 2 “From Discovery to Decommissioning,” Oct. 3 – 7, 2016 in Houston, Texas; and the 2016 Dispute Resolution in the International Oil & Gas Business, Oct. 27-28 in Houston, Texas. A complete list of all upcoming AIPN events and chapter activities can be found on the Events page of the AIPN web site.

“Although AIPN is headquartered in the United States, approximately 70 percent of AIPN’s members live and work in other countries. The AIPN board is committed to generating awareness for our association throughout the world while also supporting our members and the oil and gas industry as a whole in providing valuable information and education, industry standard model contracts, and relationship-building and networking opportunities,” commented David Davies, the newly elected president of AIPN. “As all of us board members begin our new 2016-2017 term, we are focused on achieving the goals and undertaking strategic initiatives that will continue to elevate our organization and support our members.”

Davies, who is based in London, is vice president of business development at Sterling Resources. He has been a member of AIPN since 2007 and has served as a member of the AIPN board for seven years.

Davies shared some of AIPN’s major goals for the new program year, effective May 9, 2016, to the next annual board meeting in Spring 2017: increase efforts to strengthen and grow AIPN membership throughout the world, inspire members to consider volunteer roles to support AIPN’s activities, enhance conference offerings, augment regional chapter activities, expand training resources, increase webinar content, develop the online AIPN University, and continue developing industry-standard model contracts.

The AIPN’s new board of directors began its term at the close of the recently concluded AIPN annual board meeting on May 9 and will serve for one year until the Spring 2017 annual board meeting. The membership of AIPN is well-represented by the board in geography, industry, and discipline which is key to the association’s regional events and global reach.

In addition to Davies, AIPN’s executive committee includes:
– Steven Otillar, president-elect (Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, United States);
– Michael Josephson, immediate past president (Asst. General Counsel, International & Compliance, Nexen Energy ULC, Canada).
– Lauren Wilder, Vice President – Communications (Business Development Manager, Latin America, Repsol, United States);
– Cyril Vock, Vice President – Conferences (Upstream Negotiator and Lawyer, Total, France);
– James English, Vice President – Corporate Affairs (Sr. International Negotiator, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, United States);
– Owen Anderson, Vice President – Education (Professor and Distinguished Oil and Gas Scholar, The University of Texas School of Law, United States);
– Guly Sabahi, Vice President – External Affairs (Partner, Dentons US LLP, United States);
– Marleen Bergman, Vice President – Membership (Principal Negotiator, BHP Billiton Petroleum, United States);
– William Pugh, Vice President – Model Contracts (Attorney, Liskow & Lewis, APLC, United States);
– Nathanial Scott, Vice President – Planning (International Business Development, Noble Energy, Inc., United States);
– Andrew Waters, Vice President – Regions (Manager Business Development, BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd, United Kingdom);
– Ed Turner, Secretary (Counsel, Exxon Mobil Corporation, United States); and
– Joseph Wesley, Treasurer (Commercial Director – Offshore, Hess Corporation, United States).

Regional chapter directors include:
– Lyrna Esmeralda-Hewitt for Asia (Principal Petroleum Economist, Commercial Services, LR Senergy, Singapore);
– Amelia Jalleh for Australia/Pacific – AP (Commercial and Joint Venture Manager, Talisman Australasia Pty Ltd, Australia);
– Tony Cioni for Canada (Partner, Torys LLP, Canada);
– Jon Hines for Commonwealth of Independent States/Former Soviet Union – CIS/FSU (Partner, Morgan Lewis, Russia);
– Pieter Paul Van Lelyveld for Europe/Africa – EA (Senior Legal Counsel, Shell International B.V., Netherlands
– Diana Sanclemente for Latin America – LARC (Partner, Sanclemente Fernandez Abogados S.A., Colombia);
– Sofia Sattarova for Middle East – ME (Partner, Baker Botts LLP, United Arab Emirates); and
– Bill Cline for United States (Strategic Advisor, Gaffney, Cline & Associates, Inc., United States).

Directors-at-Large include:
– Jean-Philippe Alary (Business Development Manager, ENGIE E&P International, France);
– Elvis Angyiembe (Regional Regional Ethics & Compliance Counsel, Africa, Weatherford International, United Arab Emirates);
– James Atkin (Partner, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Japan);
– William Burkett (BD Manager, ConocoPhillips, United States);
– Carlos de Maria y Campos (Partner, Galicia Abogados, S.C., Mexico);
– Gonzalo Gonzalez Galarza (Presidente, Gonzalez, Penaherrera & Asociados, Abogados, Ecuador);
– Sean Korney (Partner, Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP, Canada);
– Torgier Loland (Vice President Business Development, Statoil ASA, Norway);
– Syed Marzidy (General Counsel, Petronas Chemicals Group, Malaysia);
– Jasper Mason (Associate, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, United States);
– Andrew Melsheimer (Partner, Thompson & Knight LLP, United States);
– Brad Roach (Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Singapore);
– Sean Rush (Barrister (NZ), Solicitor (UK), Spindletop Law Limited, New Zealand);
– Tom Schmid (Global Commercial Consultant, Chevron International Exploration & Production Co., United States);
– Satoshi Tatewaki (Manager, Legal Group, Administration Dept., JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, Japan);
– Egon van der Hoeven (Commercial Manager, ExxonMobil Exploration Company, United States);
– D. Marie Wagner (Attorney at Law and Solicitor, The Law Office of Marie Wagner, United States); and
– Claudia Zacour (Head of E & P Law Department, Petrobras, Brazil).