Dr. Dale Ramlakhan

Representative, Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago

Dr. Dale Ramlakhan is an energy and infrastructure leader with more than 20 years originating, structuring, and executing projects across Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and the United States. As a volunteer representative of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, he focuses on gas-to-petrochemicals competitiveness, feedstock security at Point Lisas, and the next phase of growth for the country’s methanol and ammonia industry, including export positioning into U.S. and Atlantic markets. His work covers low-carbon ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen pathways for fertilizer, chemicals, power, and shipping. He is Project Director for NewGen Energy Limited’s hydrogen project, which is designed to supply low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen into an operating ammonia plant at Point Lisas. He also structures project finance, offtake, and public-private partnerships that connect Caribbean production with U.S. and global demand.

René Laursen

Director, Global Sustainability, ABS

Mr. René Sejer Laursen Holds an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark in 1989.
He has worked for MAN B&W Diesel since 1998 and has been among others, been project manager on developing the very first ME-GI, a dual fuel 2-stroke marine engine operating on natural gas. From 2010 introducing also the methanol, ethane gas and LPG as marine fuel for shipping market. Launched the concept for engine burning ammonia back in 2017.
From 2020 René is working for ABS in the Global Sustainability Group as Director with responsibility for fuels and new technologies and has among others been leading the ammonia safety project for EMSA, comprising 6 reports in total.

Dr. Matthias Stein

Director Chemicals Market, Air Liquide

Carlos G. Torres

Global Head of Methanol & Strategic Relationships, Bunker Holding A/S

Based in Houston, after spending three years in Denmark, Carlos Torres is the Global Head of Methanol and Strategy Relationships within the Bunker Holding Group. Carlos played a key role in developing and implementing the IMO 2020 Strategy for Bunker Holding and is now a member of the Group’s Green Center of Excellence, looking at the future fuels that will be required in support of the IMO emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2050.

Carlos Joined Bunker Holding in March 2018 after spending close to 20 years working at BP. While working at BP, Carlos had a very diverse portfolio of roles with his most recent one being based in Singapore, Carlos Torres where he was the Global Head of BP Marine Fuels where he was responsible for the entire marine fuels business, including the global marine team covering multiple geographies.

Prior to that role, Carlos was the Global Chartering Manager based in London where he managed the chartering business for BP Shipping globally.
Carlos’ career with BP goes back to 1998 where he joined Amoco prior to the merger with BP. His first job after the merger was in Chemicals where he managed the International Sales and Distribution team. He then was responsible for the global implementation of SAP for Chemicals. Subsequently, he moved to the retail business where he managed the supply of ground fuels to BP, Arco and Amoco retail sites. In 2002 he spent time in the Mergers and Acquisitions function where he was responsible for the successful divestment of 100 retail stations covering two major metropolitan markets in the USA.

Additionally, Carlos held roles of Regional Marine Manager for marine fuels in the Eastern Hemisphere where he also managed the marine fuels supply and sales team covering the Middle East, East Africa and Asia Pacific regions. As well as the role of marine manager for the Americas covering marine fuels supply and sales in the region.

Amit Goyal

Senior Director - Low carbon Services, North America, DNV

Amit Goyal is the senior director of low-carbon services for north America at DNV. His technical expertise is in thermal-catalysis, particularly hydrogen production and its conversion to derivatives. Before joining DNV, he was the director of technology at Modern Hydrogen, a Bill-Gates-backed start-up that works on methane pyrolysis for the distributed production of hydrogen. He was also the director of sustainable chemistry and catalysis at the Southern Research Institute, where he worked on various anything-to-liquids (XTL) projects. At DNV, he develops solutions for green and blue hydrogen, methanol, SAF, synthetic methane and low-carbon ammonia. He guides customers on GHG policies, validation and verification to meet regulatory and voluntary requirements, feasibility studies, strategic planning, technology and business roadmaps, mitigation planning, process engineering, techno-economic analysis and new technology evaluation. His research ideas have generated more than $40mn in federal funding, 20 patents and patent applications, and four licensed technologies.

Brian Davis

Chief Executive Officer, C2X

Tim Cesarek

Operating Partner, Ara Partners

Tim Cesarek has over 40 years of leadership, business development and investment experience; 25 of those years in the renewable energy, fuels and chemicals industry. Mr. Cesarek currently is an Operating Partner for Ara Partners, a $6.6 billion private equity fund. In that role, Tim serves as the Executive Chairman of BioVeritas and Chairman and CEO of Gidara Energy, both companies license technology for the conversion of waste and residues into fuels and chemicals.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Cesarek was the CEO of Synata Bio where he led a team to develop, build and operate a commercial scale first of kind gas fermentation plant in China. Mr. Cesarek has also been the Chief Commercial Officer of Gevo, an alcohol to fuels and chemicals business and Chief Commercial Officer of Enerkem, a waste to chemicals company.
Before Tim’s start up operational roles, he led the corporate venture efforts of Waste Management, investing in various waste conversion technologies and prior to Waste Management he led the corporate venture and open innovation arm of Koch Industries.
Mr. Cesarek has a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Lawrence Navin

Executive Vice President, MI — The Global Methanol Alliance

Lawrence Navin is the Executive Vice President of MI, leading the organisation’s engagement across the Americas, while working closely with MI’s teams in Europe and Asia to support global policy, market development, and industry alignment.
His work covers green shipping corridors, maritime infrastructure development, Methanol-to-Jet pathways for sustainable aviation fuel, as well as strategic engagement with government agencies, industry stakeholders, and international bodies to advance methanol as an energy resource and alternative fuel.

Since joining MI in 2013, Lawrence has held several leadership roles across government affairs, communications, and public policy, helping shape regulatory frameworks and build coalitions across the maritime, energy, and aviation sectors. Before joining the Institute, he worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's US-India Business Council, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the U.S. Senate.

He holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Delaware and an MA in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University.

Dave McCaskill

Vice President, Methanol and Derivatives Service, Argus

Dave McCaskill has been invested in the petrochemical industry for over 35 years. Beginning his long career with Celanese Chemical in 1975, Dave started as a chemical engineer at their Pampa, Texas plant, and steadily progressed through a series of positions ranging from planning, supply chain, field sales and marketing within the organization. Noted positions included Business Manager Ethylene Oxide/Ethylene Glycol and the last several years with the company as Business Manager Methanol & Derivatives. In 2000, Dave moved into the consulting sector and worked with another leading industry consulting organization, heading their Global Methanol service for 10 years. Joining DeWitt & Company in 2010, as Vice President Methanol & Derivatives, Dave continues to be focused on all commercial aspects of the methanol industry—supply, demand, capacity, pricing, cost structure, etc. Dave graduated from the University of Kansas, with a degree in chemical engineering, in 1975.

Steven McGinn

Associate Editor, Argus

Kelly Johnson

Global Sector Lead, Chemicals and Fertilizers, International Finance Corporation

Kelly H. Johnson has worked for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for over 25 years. Currently, he is the Global Sector Lead for Chemicals and Fertilizers at IFC, which is the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group based in Washington DC. He has over 35 years’ experience in refining, petrochemicals and fertilizers, upstream oil and gas operations, supply and logistics. Kelly has led negotiations and structured multi-billion projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He is currently responsible for increasing IFC’s investments in the sector through business development, client engagement, strategy formulation and global representation.

Cassidy Staggers

Senior Analyst, Argus

Becky Zhang

Asia Methanol Lead Consultant, Argus

Becky Zhang works for Argus in a role of Asia petrochemical analyst, mainly covering Asia’s olefins and methanol markets. She has over ten years of real-time market editor work, familiar with chemical market dynamics particularly on China market and has wide industrial networks. She has also spent two years particularly in consulting service as a project manager focusing on China market and led projects in various industries, including refinery, olefins, polymers, coal and methanol. Becky is also a regular presenter at olefins and methanol conferences and forums. Becky is a chemical engineering graduate from East China University of Science and Technology, and holds two masters’ degrees in Environmental and Energy Engineering from the University of Sheffield (2001-2002) and Entrepreneurship from the University of Nottingham (2002-2003).

Roel Salazar

Methanol and Derivatives Consultant, Argus

Roel Salazar, is the Methanol and Derivatives Consultant for Argus DeWitt. Roel is responsible for assessing US Methanol spot prices and monthly indexes. Roel is also instrumental in preparing the Annual Global MTBE Report and MTBE Monthly Outlook. Roel joined DeWitt & Company Inc. in 2005 as an Olefins Analyst supporting the Ethylene, Propylene, and Butadiene services. Mr. Salazar joined the Fuels and Octane team in 2011 and has steadily built key client relationships with US MTBE consumers, producers and traders while helping them analyze the global MTBE and Octane markets. Roel’s previous experience includes managing system development projects in several industries. His petrochemical experience includes working at one of Mobil’s ethylene cracker in Houston between 1996 -1997. Mr. Salazar holds an undergraduate degree in Information Systems from the University of Houston.

Abs Tetlay

Commercial Licensing Manager, Honeywell Technologies

Govind Murali

Process Engineer, Toyo Engineering Corporation

Govind Murali works as a process engineer at Toyo Engineering Corporation in Japan and has over nine years of experience in syngas technologies, specialising in ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, and low-carbon process development. His expertise spans the full project lifecycle, including feasibility studies, technology licensing, licensor Basic Design Package (BDP) development, Front-End Engineering Design (FEED), commissioning, start-up, and operational support.
His recent work focuses on low-carbon and green methanol and ammonia. He leads process studies and develops process configurations to reduce carbon intensity and improve plant performance. He is also actively involved in technical sales and business development for Toyo's methanol process technology, supporting technology evaluations and licensing opportunities.
Govind's combined design office and field experience provides a practical perspective on deploying sustainable process technologies. He is professionally interested in low-carbon fuels, green hydrogen, carbon capture, process optimisation, and the decarbonisation of the chemical industry.

Gus Vasquez

Americas Editorial Manager, Crude and LPG, Argus

Gus Vasquez has been the Argus Americas Crude Editor since the beginning of 2008. Prior to that he was a member of Argus’ European crude team, based out of London, where he covered the North Sea, Mediterra¬nean, Russian and west African crude markets. Before joining Argus in 2006, he spent four years as a market analyst for Venezuela’s national oil company working out of their London office.

Dr Phil Ingram

Managing Director, Low Carbon Hydrogen and Ammonia , Honeywell Technologies

Seema Santhakumar Santhakumar

Hydrogen Market Development Leader for the Americas, Baker Hughes

Seema Santhakumar is the Hydrogen Market Development Leader for the Americas at Baker Hughes, where she drives early engagement, business development, and the strategic positioning of the company’s hydrogen solutions. With over 18 years of experience at Baker Hughes, Seema has held key roles in digital initiatives, strategic marketing, corporate development, and clean energy leadership.
Before joining Baker Hughes, Seema was a Senior Consultant at Accenture, specializing in digital transformation for major energy companies. She holds a Bachelor's in Physics, a Master's in Computer Applications, and an MBA from Rice Business School.
Beyond her professional achievements, Seema is a committed advocate for women in energy, actively participating in and mentoring through Women+ in Hydrogen and the Houston Women’s Energy Network. She also contributes to the entrepreneurial ecosystem by judging business plan competitions, mentoring startups, serving as Executive in Residence at YGC in Austin, and serving on the Rice Business Partners Board.

Amanda de Jager

Senior Licensing Manager , Topsoe

Joshua Padeti

Manager, Low Carbon Solutions, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas

Talissa Mathieu

Senior Manager, Business Development, StormFisher

Talissa Mathieu is Senior Manager, Business Development at StormFisher Hydrogen, a Canadian clean fuels company, where she focuses on e-Methanol and e-Methane sales growth and client relationships. With prior experience in the renewable natural gas industry, she brings a strong cross-sector perspective to hydrogen commercialization. At StormFisher, Talissa's work centers on offtake, helping industrial and corporate clients address Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions through direct e-Fuel procurement and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). Talissa holds a Master of Science and Engineering from Ecole des Mines de Paris

Kate Hickey

Senior Associate, RMI

Kate is a senior associate on RMI’s Industry program, where she works to accelerate the adoption of clean hydrogen and other low-emissions technologies across hard-to-abate sectors. Her work focuses primarily on generating demand for clean hydrogen and its derivatives across sectors including shipping, aviation, ammonia-based fertilizers, and steel. She develops techno-economic analysis to support policymakers and collaborates with industry and partner organizations to design market-based mechanisms that can enable the deployment of hydrogen and ammonia at scale globally.

Jason Womack

Editor Argus Natural Gas Americas, Argus

Toby Hlavinka

President & CEO, American Plant Food Corporation

Tobias Hlavinka serves as President and CEO of American Plant Food Corporation, a role he has held since 2017. He also sits on the company's board of directors.
Few executives in American agriculture have worked every link of the fertilizer chain the way Mr. Hlavinka has. He has run equipment dealerships, farmed rice and grain on his own land, sold and distributed crop inputs, and now leads a major regional fertilizer company. That range gives him a rare view of the business, from the field to the retail counter to the boardroom.
His career spans more than four decades. He started in the family business, Boettcher-Hlavinka Equipment Company, then owned and operated West Bernard Rice Farms and Grain for 14 years, farming the same land he later served through fertilizer sales. In 1985 he founded BHC Industries and built it into one of the largest regional fertilizer retail and wholesale groups in Texas. He then spent 14 years as National Director of Fertilizer at Helena Chemical Company, helping grow it into the nation's second-largest fertilizer retailer, before joining American Plant Food in 2012.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Texas A&M University, class of 1983.
Mr. Hlavinka has shaped fertilizer policy and industry standards for over 30 years. He served as President of the Texas Ag Industries Association, where he has chaired legislative activities since 1992. He is a past Chairman of the Southwest Fertilizer Conference and has served on its board since 2011, after 38 years attending the event. He currently serves on the Ag Retailers Association's Public Policy and ARAPAC Committees and received the 2023 Ag Retailers Distinguished Service Award.