Argus Australia Fossil to Future Fuels Forum 2026

Name: Argus Australia Fossil to Future Fuels Forum 2026
Start: 2026-10-21T00:00:00Z
Location: W Brisbane, Great Room 2 & 3

W Brisbane, Great Room 2 & 3

Wednesday, 21 October 2026 between 9.30am - 6.30pm AEST

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OverviewAgendaFAQsSpeakers

Hear directly from Argus experts and industry representatives as they explore the market forces shaping Australia’s fuels sector, from fuel security and trade flows to biofuels, SAF and feedstocks. Additional speakers will be announced as the programme develops.

Ray Dias
Vice President, APAC Sales, Argus Media

Ray Dias is Vice President, APAC Sales at Argus Media, based in Singapore. With nearly 15 years at Argus, Ray works closely with strategic customers across the Asia-Pacific region, helping organisations navigate complex commodity markets through market intelligence, pricing benchmarks, analytics and consulting solutions.

In his current role, he partners with organisations across the commodities value chain, supporting their use of Argus data, insight and market intelligence to inform commercial decision-making.

Cara Wong
Associate Editor, Argus Media

Cara Wong covers Asia-Pacific oil products markets from Singapore, leading Argus' day-to-day coverage and price assessments for middle distillates. She has priced and seen the distillates market through some of the most significant market-moving events of the past decade, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and, most recently, the US-Iran conflict.

Tom Woodlock
Senior Reporter, Argus Media

Tom Woodlock is a Senior Reporter at Argus Media based in Sydney, specialising in oil products, biofuels and fuel security markets across Oceania and the Asia-Pacific region. His work covers refinery operations, product trade flows, inventories, pricing and government policy, with a particular focus on Australia's evolving fuel security framework. Before relocating to Sydney in 2024, Tom reported on European oil products from Argus' London headquarters. Prior to joining Argus, he was Research Director in the Global Commodities Division at London Politica, where he advised clients on geopolitical and commodity market risks. Tom has a background in economics and politics, having studied at the University of Reading and the London School of Economics.

Jonty Richardson
Principal Consultant, Argus Consulting Services

Jonty Richardson spent the first four years of his career with Argus Consulting Services in London, focusing on European energy markets. During this time, he worked predominantly on short and long-term crude and refined products forecasting. In 2018, Jonty joined the Argus Consulting Services team in Singapore, where he focuses on bespoke consulting projects related to downstream petroleum and biofuels. His work has included in-depth analysis of European HVO, SAF and biofuels markets, as well as feedstock markets across Asia-Pacific. Jonty holds a degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Shien Ern Tan
Deputy Editor - Asian Biofuels, Argus Media

Tan Shien Ern is the Deputy Editor for Asian Biofuels at Argus, where she produces regional price assessments for Asian feedstocks and delivers market analysis across the region's rapidly evolving biofuels sector. She brings deep expertise from her years at Platts, where she covered biofuels and feedstocks alongside SAF and bio-bunker markets, and contributed to key methodology developments. Her prior experience in derivatives trading at CIMB and physical sugar trading at Louis Dreyfus Company further grounds her analysis in strong commercial insight, giving her a holistic perspective on Asia's energy and feedstock landscape.

Grace Dudley
Market Reporter, Argus Media

Grace covers Australian biofuels and feedstock markets from Argus' Sydney office. She is responsible for Argus' tallow price assessments, one of the leading benchmark animal fat prices in the Asia-Pacific region, and led the launch of Argus' Australian canola seed assessment. Grace delivers market analysis of Australian biofuels markets more broadly, and is helping develop pricing benchmarks that support feedstock offtake and market transparency as Australia moves towards a biofuels mandate.

David Nicholls
Director, Energy Transition Section in the Climate Policy Branch, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)

David Nicholls is Director, Energy Transition Section in the Climate Policy Branch, at the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. His team led the development of the National Bioenergy Feedstock Strategy which is one part of the Australian Government’s efforts to support domestic low carbon liquid fuel production in Australia. Before his current role, David worked in strategic policy roles in water resources and biosecurity in both Commonwealth and state government agencies.

Mark McKenzie
CEO, Freedom Energy Holdings

Mark McKenzie has served as Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Energy Holdings since July 2025. Freedom Energy Holdings—comprising Freedom Fuels Australia, Freedom Fuels Terminalling, and Trinity Petroleum Services—is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese energy company Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. Through its businesses, Freedom operates a growing retail fuel network across Queensland and supplies wholesale fuel markets throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Before joining Freedom, Mark spent ten years as Chief Executive Officer of ACAPMA, Australia's peak employer association for the downstream petroleum industry. During his tenure, he became one of the industry's leading advocates, representing fuel businesses at both State and Federal levels while contributing to national policy on fuel security, industrial relations, regulatory reform, environmental compliance and the future of Australia's fuel and convenience sector. He successfully led the industry through one of its most challenging periods of change, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

Mark holds qualifications in Engineering and Business Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Over the past two decades, he has served on numerous industry boards, government advisory committees and strategic working groups, earning a reputation as a practical, commercially focused leader with deep expertise across the Australian energy sector.

Malcolm Roberts
CEO, Australian Institute of Petroleum

Malcolm joined AIP in November 2023, after almost five years as a Commissioner at the Productivity Commission. Most of his recent career has been spent in the energy sector, leading the peak bodies for oil and gas production, electricity and gas transmission and distribution, and electricity generation. In government, he has served as the chairman of the Queensland Competition Authority, as a policy adviser to Ministers and an adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

James Williamson
General Manager, ANZ, Neste

James Williamson leads Neste’s operations across Australia and New Zealand and has been with the company since 2019, when he joined the Singapore office to help establish Neste’s Australian business. He brings over a decade of experience in renewable fuels, feedstocks, and commodity trading. Prior to Neste, James worked as an international trader for JBS, managing trade flows in glycerol, tallow, and biofuels across APAC, LATAM, and North America. Today, he is focused on accelerating the adoption of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel in Australia, with a strong emphasis on building resilient supply chains and scaling local feedstock partnerships.

Andrew Deller
Operations Manager, Just Biodiesel

Andrew Deller is the Operations Manager at Just Biodiesel in Barnawartha, Victoria, where he leads biodiesel production and supports the growth of renewable fuel solutions. Drawing on experience in production, process improvement and quality assurance, he has helped advance flexible feedstock processing using materials such as tallow and used cooking oil. Andrew also contributes to industry discussions on sustainable supply chains, circular-economy opportunities and the role of biofuels in Australia’s lower-emissions future.

David Johnston
General Manager, Jet Zero Australia

David Johnston is the General Manager of Jet Zero Australia. He has 25 years of strategic and operational accountabilities for downstream oil businesses at national and global levels, particularly across refining and supply. David is accountable for the project development pipeline of biofuels project developer Jet Zero Australia and leads the launch of its bio-fuel feedstocks spin-out venture Silvo Plus.

David Clement
Program Director, Agri-Energy, GrainCorp

David is a senior energy executive with over 16 years of international leadership experience in commercial and operations roles. He began his career delivering mining and offshore Oil & Gas projects across APAC before transitioning into large-scale renewable energy developments. His expertise spans wind and solar farms, green hydrogen, sustainable forestry, carbon credit projects, and now Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), with a strong focus on strategic innovation and feedstock solutions.

David has successfully originated and managed major infrastructure initiatives, including airport projects across the Pacific Islands. Specialising in the APAC region, he excels at launching and scaling renewable projects through business development, sales, operations management, joint venture partnerships, and high-level stakeholder engagement. His passion for diverse cultures and deep APAC network enables him to build trusted relationships across government, industry, and investment partners.

In 2024, David was honoured with the French-Australian Excellence Award for Environmental & Sustainability. He also chaired the Hydrogen Conference at Energy Asia Week in 2025. Deeply committed to decarbonisation and net-zero outcomes, he is now focused on developing Australian feedstock solutions for local SAF production to accelerate Australia’s sustainable aviation future.

Andrea Polson
General Manager, Stakeholder Engagement & Communications, Licella

Andrea Polson is General Manager, Stakeholder Engagement & Communications at Licella, leading strategic partnerships, policy engagement and communications for one of the world's leading advanced biofuel and bioeconomy technologies. With more than a decade at Licella, she has helped build the company's industry leadership and support major project development initiatives, including Project Swift. Andrea is a frequent speaker on sustainable fuels, the circular economy and bioeconomy policy, and was recognised in The Bioeconomy 500 in 2025 and 2026.

Simon Roycroft
Future Fuels Manager, Refueling Solutions

Simon Roycroft is the Future Fuels Manager at Refuelling Solutions, Australia’s largest On-site Refuelling Service, which serves over 6,500 customers across the nation. In this role, Simon is at the forefront of advocating for renewable low-carbon liquid fuel solutions, such as ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel, to help decarbonise diesel-intensive and hard-to-abate sectors. His leadership in the renewable energy space reflects his deep commitment to advancing sustainable fuel alternatives and promoting environmental stewardship within the energy sector.

Simon previously served as the Chair of the Cleaner Fuels Alliance at Bioenergy Australia. He also held senior positions as the NSW General Manager at Coca-Cola and the Regional Manager for Foxtel, where he honed his skills in operational management, market strategy, and business development. Simon’s extensive background in both the bioenergy and corporate sectors has shaped his comprehensive understanding of the intersection between technology, sustainability, and industry growth. He is dedicated to promoting innovation in fuel solutions and advancing the global transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy.

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