Our Consultants and Sector Credentials

Lloyd Thomas is Senior Vice-President, Consulting Services, based in our London office. He leads the global Argus Consulting Services team and provides oversight of Argus’ consulting activities within Europe. Lloyd joined Argus in 2011 as Head of European Consulting and has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the consulting division. He was promoted to Global Head of Consulting in 2017. Prior to joining Argus, Lloyd led the global research and advisory team at Energy Intelligence Group. Earlier in his career, he spent over 11 years as a management and strategy consultant in the energy practices at Deloitte and Ernst & Young. During this time he worked with a wide range of energy, utilities and infrastructure clients, helping to deliver strategy, performance improvement and large-scale capital programmes.

Kristine Klavers is Senior Vice-President responsible for Argus Consulting Services in America. She has over 20 years of experience in consulting and is an expert on global fuels, fuel quality and refining, and has strong contacts throughout the industry. Prior to Argus, Kristine led Hart’s consulting services, including the International Fuel Quality Center. She worked for Lyondell as an MTBE product specialist, and as a process engineer for a Japanese gasoline company in Japan. Kristine developed a catalyst for methane coupling at Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan and gained her MSc in chemical engineering from the University of Twente, Netherlands.

Yu Kin is a Vice-President in the Singapore office, responsible for the delivery of all Asian consulting projects. Yu Kin joined Argus from IHS Purvin & Gertz where he was a managing consultant. In a career spanning 24 years in various consulting roles in Singapore, Greece and the US, Yu Kin has covered oil, gas, coal and petrochemical markets. During his time at KBC Advanced Technology, he successfully built up a strategic consulting practice in Asia from scratch. Yu Kin trained as a chemical engineer at the National University of Singapore. He is recognised as a chartered engineer by the Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Victor is based in Argus’ Moscow office. He has been responsible for bespoke consulting projects in Russia and the CIS since joining Argus in 2015, having spent over 10 years in strategy and marketing consulting. Before joining Argus, Victor managed market analysis and strategy projects for the refining and petrochemical industry at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Ed covers upstream, refining, US transportation trends, and biotechnology for Argus Consulting Services. He has 39 years’ experience conducting market analysis, project feasibility studies, and new process technology evaluation, working for Argus, Jacobs Consultancy and UOP/Honeywell. He has provided advisory services for many of the world’s most successful oil production, refining, energy, logistics and bio-fuels organizations, as well as for banks, sovereign wealth funds and government agencies. Ed holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry from the University of California, a Master of Science degree in Microbiology from the Illinois Institute of Technology and he received a Master in Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago.

Hayden leads the forecasting and analytics for the coal and petroleum coke markets, including the monthly publication of Argus Seaborne Thermal Coal Outlook and Argus Petroleum Coke Outlook. Prior to joining Argus, he was a senior commodities analyst working for Macquarie Group where he was responsible for price forecasting, demand and supply of thermal coal, precious metals and uranium markets. Hayden holds two BAs from University of Melbourne, one in commerce and the other in information systems.

Victor is based in Argus’ Moscow office. He has been responsible for bespoke consulting projects in Russia and the CIS since joining Argus in 2015, having spent over 10 years in strategy and marketing consulting. Before joining Argus, Victor managed market analysis and strategy projects for the refining and petrochemical industry at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Joe Duffy is VP, Ethylene, Polymers and Derivatives, based in London. During his time with Argus, he has worked on a number of consultancy projects covering the structure of the European olefins markets, investment opportunities in the Middle East and the outlook for ethane imports to Europe. Joe has considerable knowledge and understanding of the European olefins market, having previously worked for ICI, Huntsman and most recently Sabic, where he was responsible for the business management of the company’s olefins business in Europe, before joining DeWitt, which was subsequently acquired by Argus. Joe graduated with honors with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering and has a PhD in optical engineering from the University of Glasgow.

Aida has worked in both capital markets and the fertilizers industry. Prior to joining Argus Consulting Services, she worked in strategy and market intelligence roles for OCP, contributing to strategic projects in the phosphate sector. Before that, she worked for Goldman Sachs for over three years in structured interest rates derivative sales. Aida was educated at Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees in Paris, where she earned an MSc in engineering.

Kristine Klavers is Senior Vice-President responsible for Argus Consulting Services in America. She has over 20 years of experience in consulting and is an expert on global fuels, fuel quality and refining, and has strong contacts throughout the industry. Prior to Argus, Kristine led Hart’s consulting services, including the International Fuel Quality Center. She worked for Lyondell as an MTBE product specialist, and as a process engineer for a Japanese gasoline company in Japan. Kristine developed a catalyst for methane coupling at Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan and gained her MSc in chemical engineering from the University of Twente, Netherlands.

Dave McCaskill is VP, Global Methanol and Derivatives, based in Houston. He manages Argus’ global methanol services with an individual emphasis on methanol and downstream derivative activities in the Americas. He provides support to the Argus MTBE and Fuel Service, and co-ordinates Argus’ methanol conferences and events around the world each year. Dave has more than 40 years of experience in the petrochemical industry, beginning his long career with Celanese Chemical Company as a chemical engineer. While there, he progressed steadily through a series of roles, including engineering, capital planning, hydrocarbon purchasing and operations planning/support, ending up in business management for the ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol product area and then the methanol and formaldehyde product line. He first entered the world of consulting with CMAI in 2000 as Global Director, Methanol and Derivative Servicvs. He moved on to become VP Methanol and Derivatives at DeWitt in 2010, which was subsequently acquired by Argus. Dave holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas.

Paul Niznik has two decades of experience in biofuels and alternative fuel development. He applies his broad knowledge of biofuel economics – including RINs and LCFS markets – to assist refiners, biofuels producers, financial institutions, automakers and government agencies with strategic planning in alternative fuels markets and policy compliance. His due diligence work has been used in the financing of the some of the most capital-intensive biofuels projects in the nation. Paul is an alumnus of Yale University, where he received a degree in astrophysics.

Francis Osborne has over 30 years of experience in energy. He is responsible for guiding and coordinating market analysis and price forecasting across a large range of commodities covered by the consulting group, in particular crude and refined product markets and gas liquids. In the past he has held roles with Wood Mackenzie, KBC Advanced Technology, Saudi Petroleum and ICIS. Francis has a BA in economics and development studies from London University

Paco Rangel is VP, Aromatics, based in Houston. His areas of expertise include aromatics market consulting and price analysis, manufacturing economic analysis, fuel supply chains, and NGL pipeline management. He also focuses on single-client studies covering topics in reforming, alkylation, pyrolysis gasoline, and economic competitiveness in both olefins and aromatics value chains. Paco has more than 16 years of consulting experience in the energy and petrochemical industry. He began his career at Accenture, where he helped petrochemical clients in areas such as business process design and simulation, and mergers and acquisitions. He joined DeWitt as an olefins analyst in 2001 and spent 10 years working on analysis of both olefins and aromatics markets. He then became Manager of Economic Services in 2008. He joined Argus in 2014 after spending three years working for Opportune. Paco holds a BSc in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Tulane University.

Vitaly Rogachevsky is VP, C5 Monomers and Polymers, based in Houston. He is responsible for the industry-leading Argus C5 and Hydrocarbon Resins report and provides a unique perspective and analysis of the C5 marketplace — from feedstocks to formulated products. Vitaly also leads consulting projects around the world, covering C5 monomers, derivatives and tackifying resins. Vitaly joined Argus from HB Fuller, a global adhesives manufacturer in the US. During his 27-year tenure there, he held a number of positions, most notably in manufacturing, R&D — where he developed several patented adhesives — and sourcing, where he dealt primarily with raw materials for hot-melt adhesives that utilise most C5 chemistry derivatives. As part of his strategic global sourcing responsibilities, he developed extensive experience with upstream, downstream, R&D and the consumer side of every commodity related to hot-melt adhesives. Vitaly holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Toronto.

Mark Seddon is Senior Manager (Metals), Argus Consulting Services, based in London. He is responsible for Argus’ rare earths, tungsten and battery materials monthly outlooks and annual reports, and for developing metals consulting services. With over 25 years of experience in the commodities industry as a trader, researcher, consultant and company executive, Mark has a wealth of experience in the metals sector. Mark initially spent three years as a sugar trader with Louis Dreyfus, a leading global soft commodities company. The next 20 years were spent at Roskill Information Services, a leader in international metals and minerals research. In January 2001, Mark was appointed a director at Roskill and in December 2010 became the Managing Director of the company. Prior to joining Argus, Mark ran his own metals consulting company, Tungsten Market Research. Mark has a BA (Hons) degree in European business administration, as well as a Diplôme d’Études Supérieures Européennes de Management.

Ozzy Speranza has a deep understanding of the Latin American markets, trading and asphalt markets. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Ozzy spent 17 years with Shell fulfilling a variety of roles, such as wholesale and pricing manager with Shell’s bitumen group, Latin America market development manager in Brazil, Latin America/Caribbean oil trader in Barbados, international franchising for Jiffy Lube, and global account manager of aviation in both the US and London offices. He was also the fast lube marketing manager in Argentina for YPF-Repsol as well as marketing director for Pennzoil.

Adrian is Principal Consultant for Potash and Fertilizers, based in London. Adrian spent three decades in the mining and marketing industries, including 19 years with Rio Tinto in commercial and business development functions in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and eight years with junior exploration and development companies, such as Satimola in Kazakhstan and Ferrous Resources in Brazil. He has experience with mining development projects, and their promotion to financial backers and prospective buyers, as well as international commerce in bulk minerals, and sales to a wide range of agricultural, industrial and speciality markets around the world. Adrian is responsible for consulting in the areas of potash and speciality fertilizers, publishing several annual multi-client strategy reports each year, as well as working on single-client projects to assess market feasibility.

Lloyd Thomas is Senior Vice-President, Consulting Services, based in our London office. He leads the global Argus Consulting Services team and provides oversight of Argus’ consulting activities within Europe. Lloyd joined Argus in 2011 as Head of European Consulting and has been instrumental in the development and expansion of the consulting division. He was promoted to Global Head of Consulting in 2017. Prior to joining Argus, Lloyd led the global research and advisory team at Energy Intelligence Group. Earlier in his career, he spent over 11 years as a management and strategy consultant in the energy practices at Deloitte and Ernst & Young. During this time he worked with a wide range of energy, utilities and infrastructure clients, helping to deliver strategy, performance improvement and large-scale capital programmes.

Steve Weber has more than 35 years of experience in refining and chemical plant management, engineering and operations. Steve began his career with Total as a process engineer before moving to roles in economics and planning and marine transportation. 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. Steve holds a BSc in chemical engineering from the University of Texas, as well as an MBA.

Frances Wollmer has spent more than 20 years as a consultant in the fertilizer and fertilizer raw materials sectors. Frances oversees Argus’ fertilizer consulting services and is responsible for long-range forecasting, strategy and project feasibility studies, with a focus on the nitrogen sector. Frances is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has developed contacts with senior executives in all aspects of the fertilizer industry. She holds a BSc in economics from the University of Hull and a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Manchester.

Yu Kin is a Vice-President in the Singapore office, responsible for the delivery of all Asian consulting projects. Yu Kin joined Argus from IHS Purvin & Gertz where he was a managing consultant. In a career spanning 24 years in various consulting roles in Singapore, Greece and the US, Yu Kin has covered oil, gas, coal and petrochemical markets. During his time at KBC Advanced Technology, he successfully built up a strategic consulting practice in Asia from scratch. Yu Kin trained as a chemical engineer at the National University of Singapore. He is recognised as a chartered engineer by the Institute of Chemical Engineers.