Argus Petrochemicals Seminar

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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. Read less

David has more than 30 years’ experience of working in energy markets. Prior to joining Argus, David was most recently chief economist at commodity trading company Gunvor. Before this, he managed the oil industry and markets division of the International Energy Agency and edited its influential monthly Oil Market Report. David has a master’s degree in energy policy and economics from Imperial College London. Read less

Joe Duffy joined Argus in 2009 and is now a Principal in Argus Consulting with a focus on petrochemicals in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He previously worked for ICI, Huntsman and Saudi company Sabic, where he was responsible for the business management of Sabic’s olefins business in Europe. At Argus, Joe has worked on a number of consultancy projects covering the structure of the European olefins markets, investment opportunities in the Middle East and the potential for ethane imports to Europe. Joe is also responsible for the provision of regular client services for ethylene and polymers, the monthly olefins outlook forecast and the long-term ethylene and derivatives supply, demand and trade balance. Joe has an undergraduate degree and a PhD from the University of Glasgow. Read less

Andy Nicholson works for Argus and is responsible for the aromatics and derivatives consulting business in Europe, the Middle East and India. He has 35 years’ experience in the petrochemical industry, including 13 years with ICI in the UK and Germany and eight years with Rhone-Poulenc/Rhodia in France. He studied at the universities of Cambridge and Freiburg and is fluent in English, German and French. Read less

Sarah has worked with Argus since March 2012 as the company’s olefins consultant focusing primarily on Europe and the Middle East. For 17 years Sarah held senior strategic purchasing management positions in Ineos, Tessenderlo Chemie (LVM) and Rhodia, responsible for a wide range of material including olefins, fertilizers and commodity raw materials. Prior to this, Sarah held various management and project roles covering most aspects of the chemical business including business management, sales, planning and logistics. She graduated in geology from Leicester University and started her career working for BP Oil. Read less

Jimmy Levine is VP, Ethylene and Derivatives, based in Houston. He serves as Argus’ key subject matter expert in the ethylene and derivatives markets, develops detailed analysis of the US and global ethylene and polymers industries, and oversees preparation of Argus’ ethylene reports, including Argus Ethylene and Derivatives, Argus Olefins Outlook and Argus Ethylene Analytics. He also communicates unique insight to clients to help them understand these markets and any potential risks and rewards, and maintains forecasts and forward views of the markets so that clients can optimise their business results. Jimmy worked for 25 years at Dow Chemical, where he spent time managing global supply for the ethylene and olefins and derivatives business, six years in global business planning, and the second half of his tenure in global hydrocarbons, energy commercial, supply chain and olefins and polyolefins business optimisation. In 2011 he joined Cargill, where he helped build and manage a hedging business in ethylene, propylene, polyethylene and polypropylene. Jimmy has a BSc in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University and graduated summa cum laude. Read less

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). Read less

Francis Osborne is Head of Forecasting in the Argus Consulting group, where his remit is to develop and co-ordinate the forecasting processes across a range of different commodities. Francis has over 30 years of experience of analysing and consulting on global oil and gas markets, and has worked for a number of leading consultancies. Prior to joining Argus, Francis was Head of Analytics at ICIS. He has also held positions with Saudi Petroleum Overseas, refining consultancy KBC Advanced Technologies and research firm Wood Mackenzie. Read less

Steve has more than 35 years of experience in refining and chemical plant management, engineering and operations. Steve began his long career with Total as a process engineer. He has served as an operations manager, a styrene plant manager and a refinery manager. His accomplishments include managing the world’s largest combined styrene and polystyrene complex for Total Styrenics, and later overseeing major improvement projects for clients including a refining steam cracker project in Thailand and Brazil, and a refinery in eastern Europe. Read less

Tom Reed joined Argus from UK broadcaster the BBC in 2003. He worked on Argus’ corporate and European products desks before moving to head Argus’ Asian market analysis of oil and generation fuels. As Vice-president of China crude and products he oversees Argus’ China oil pricing and analysis service. Read less

Will Collins is the Editor of the Argus Freight report, based in London. He joined Argus in 2011 in the sales team, and moved into the shipping sector in early 2020 after a long stint in sales and editorial roles in Argus’ petrochemicals business. Will's role encompasses all of the areas that are covered in Argus Freight, including dirty and clean tankers and dry bulk shipping. Read less