09:00 AM
US/World Energy Outlook 2027
Speakers
Debnil Chowdhury
Bob Fryklund
Dr. Ning Lin
Max Minzner
Clay Gaspar
Tracy Hewitt
Boaz Nur
Reed Olmstead
Jon Parrella
Clayton Seigle
Kaes Van't Hof
Energy Business Conference
The NAPE Energy Business Conference features presentations from senior-level executives and industry leaders brought on stage to discuss some of the industry's most pressing topics. Attendees also enjoy extra networking time along with exclusive insights from the experts the day before the expo floor opens. NAPE Experience Plus Pass required.
The Business Track has been approved for 4 AAPL CEUs and the Luncheon Keynote has been approved for 1 AAPL CEU.
09:00 AM
09:55 AM
10:15 AM
11:10 AM
11:30 AM
12:55 PM
01:05 PM
02:00 PM
02:20 PM
03:15 PM
Debnil Chowdhury, vice president, leads North and Latin American refining and marketing research at S&P Global Energy.
Chowdhury leads the team of analysts responsible for short- and long-term downstream refined product supply, demand and margin outlooks for North and Latin America. Since joining the company in 2012, he initially led the North American natural gas liquids team, where he created the company's proprietary long-term ethane analytics price, supply and demand forecast model. The model can be used to quantitatively link and provide insight on ethane supply and demand to long-term pricing and is used by clients to make large capital decisions for petrochemical assets globally.
In his current role in refining, Chowdhury and his team focus on refined product market forecasting and price forecasting. He led the Light and Heavy Naphtha service, creating the proprietary refining, NGL and petrochemical supply, demand and price forecasting models for the service. Recently, Chowdhury was instrumental in developing views of supply, demand and refinery rationalization during the COVID-19 crisis and continues to help clients navigate market fluctuations caused by the virus.
In addition to his research responsibilities, Chowdhury has been involved in several consulting projects for refined product market, pricing and new market entry strategy studies for clients in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Eastern U.S., Atlantic Basin, Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, CIS, Africa, Middle East and Asian markets. He also worked closely with private equity and upstream clients to perform project feasibility studies for various oil and gas assets. Chowdhury has evaluated potential merger, acquisition and divestiture opportunities. His work included screening of potential assets, specific facility evaluations and due diligence activities.
Prior to joining S&P Global, Chowdhury was a senior market analyst for Valero, where he provided strategic planning and market analysis support for downstream, renewable and retail assets globally. He also worked as a process engineer for KBR, Bechtel and the U.S. government, where he worked with clients domestically and globally to develop new refining, chemical and nuclear technologies. Chowdhury holds a BS in chemical engineering and a certificate in international affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MS in predictive analytics and data science from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Rice University.
Bob Fryklund is the chief upstream strategist at S&P Global Commodity Insights. He has 46 years of experience working for majors, independents and consultancies, with more than half of that in executive leadership roles. He focuses on advising companies, boards and leadership teams on areas that lead to high-impact value creation: portfolios, IPOs, restructuring and M&A.
He is a globally recognized expert on upstream oil and gas and won the AAPG President's Award for his thought leadership. A frequent keynote speaker for both public and private events, he is also a well-known moderator and media source.
Fryklund gives back to the industry by mentoring women leaders, and he also sits on multiple industry boards: IPAA, ARPEL, AAPG CAB, AAPG Trustee Associate and Hamilton College. He holds an AB in geology from Hamilton College and resides in Houston, Texas.
Ning Lin is chief economist at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG), The University of Texas at Austin, and principal investigator of COMPASS (Collaborative Optimization and Management of Power Allocation, Surface and Subsurface Strategies), a multidisciplinary research consortium studying the power, water, siting and community dimensions of large-load (data center) development in Texas. An applied energy economist with nearly 15 years of commercial experience at Shell Trading, Koch Industries and Tenaska before joining BEG in 2019, she holds a Ph.D. in economics from UT Austin.
Max Minzner is Exelon's senior vice president and deputy general counsel for its corporate function. In this role, he leads the team of lawyers representing Exelon and its operating companies at FERC and for legal strategy and execution supporting the company's FERC-regulated transmission business, as well as the teams managing Exelon's litigation, cybersecurity, environmental, labor, employment, transactional and contracting work. He joined Exelon after serving as general counsel of Arcadia, a venture-backed energy data startup, which raised more than $400 million at a valuation of more than $1 billion and acquired six companies during his tenure. At Arcadia, he also led the company's Artificial Intelligence Task Force. He is the former general counsel of FERC as well as a former tenured professor of law. He holds a J.D. from Yale and a B.S. in mathematics from Brown.
Clay Gaspar is president and CEO of Devon Energy. He previously served as COO after Devon's merger with WPX Energy in 2021. At WPX, Gaspar held the position of president and COO and sat on the board. Gaspar's career spans leadership and technical positions at Newfield Exploration, Anadarko Petroleum and Mewbourne Oil. Gaspar serves on the boards of the American Petroleum Institute, American Exploration & Production Council, Permian Strategic Partnership and the American Heart Association Southwest Region. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered professional engineer in Texas.
Tracy Hewitt is vice president of AI strategy and enterprise innovation at bpx energy, based in Denver, Colorado. Hewitt joined BP in 2026, bringing experience in artificial intelligence strategy, enterprise data and analytics from EchoStar Corp., Red Hat and Irwin Hewitt Consulting.
Hewitt previously served as vice president of artificial intelligence data products and monetization at EchoStar and, before that, as vice president of global enterprise data and analytics at Red Hat.
Hewitt holds a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in applied economics, both from Michigan State University.
Boaz Nur leads the Oil and Gas vertical at Anthropic, helping operators and service companies turn AI into faster decisions, lower operating costs and safer operations. He co-founded Ingrain Inc., a digital rock physics lab acquired by Halliburton, and has spent more than 12 years in enterprise software, focusing on data governance, integration and automation/orchestration, now applied to scaling AI in the enterprise.
Reed Olmstead is an executive director of North American upstream research at S&P Global Energy.
Olmstead focuses on the drivers and inhibitors to unconventional production in the most important existing and incubating plays in North America. He has been involved in various capacities of asset and operator analysis in North American research for more than 15 years. Recently, he has focused on the financial constraints to production and the implications for future supply in light of competing directives and conflicting objectives. Prior to joining S&P Global Energy, he served in the strategy and finance department of a U.S. independent producer.
Olmstead holds a degree in mechanical engineering from Baylor University and an MBA from Rice University.
Jon Parrella is CEO and founder of TerraFlow Energy, where he leads the development of long-duration energy storage solutions for large-scale power infrastructure, AI data centers and the evolving electric grid. With more than 20 years of experience spanning energy, infrastructure and finance, Parrella has led the development of complex energy projects, built strategic partnerships and helped bring emerging technologies to market.
His work focuses on the intersection of grid reliability, economic growth and next-generation power architecture, helping communities, utilities and industry prepare for rising electricity demand driven by AI, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure. As a frequent speaker on energy policy and infrastructure, Parrella brings a practical perspective on how resilient power systems can support both economic development and long-term competitiveness.
Clay Seigle, managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, leads the firm's energy practice. He is an experienced energy industry strategist with specialization in market intelligence, energy security and political risk.
Before joining Beacon, Seigle was senior fellow and the James R. Schlesinger Chair in Energy and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he provided policymakers and corporate leaders with thought leadership and strategic insights to navigate regional and global energy security challenges. In this capacity, he regularly briefed audiences at the White House; the Departments of State, Treasury and Energy; and Capitol Hill.
Previously, Seigle led the Global Oil Service at Rapidan Energy Group. Prior to Rapidan, he served in analytical and leadership roles at Vortexa, Genscape, Maxar, IHS, Enron and the U.S. Department of Energy. Seigle is a frequent commentator on CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg Television, C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NewsNation, NPR and MS NOW. His essays have been published in the New York Times and Petroleum Economist, and he has been interviewed in the Wall Street Journal, the Houston Chronicle, Axios, Politico, the Hill, Semafor, the Washington Examiner, Barron's, Reuters and other outlets.
Seigle serves on the board of directors at the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations and is a past vice president of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics.
Seigle holds a master's degree in international relations and economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin.
Kaes Van't Hof has served as chief executive officer and as a director of Diamondback since May 2025. Prior to his current position, he served as Diamondback's president from February 2025 to May 2025; as president and chief financial officer from February 2022 to February 2025; as chief financial officer and executive vice president of business development from February 2019 to February 2022; as senior vice president of strategy and corporate development from January 2017 to February 2019; and as vice president of strategy and corporate development after joining the company in July 2016.
Van't Hof has served as chief executive officer of Viper since February 2025 and as a director of Viper since November 2023.
Before joining Diamondback and Viper, Van't Hof served as chief executive officer for Bison Drilling and Field Services from September 2012 to June 2016. From August 2011 to August 2012, he was an analyst for Wexford Capital LP, responsible for developing operating models and business plans, including for Diamondback's initial public offering. Before that, he worked in the Investment BankingñFinancial Institutions Group of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. from February 2010 to July 2011.
Van't Hof was a professional tennis player from May 2008 to January 2010. He received a Bachelor of Science in accounting and business administration from the University of Southern California.
Jim Wicklund is a managing director at PPHB, a Houston-based midmarket energy investment bank.
He previously served as a managing director and senior banker in the energy group at Stephens Inc. Wicklund spent 15 years in the oil and gas industry working in geophysics, reservoir engineering and operations around the world, living in Australia, Singapore, Milan, London and Houston. He held positions with Western Geophysical (now part of Schlumberger), Sun Oil Co., McCord Lewis and Exploration Consultants Ltd.
As a Wall Street research analyst, Wicklund was ranked No. 1 in Institutional Investor rankings, the Wall Street Journal's Best on the Street and Greenwich's No. 1 in Industry Knowledge, among other recognitions. He is a member and past symposium chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
Wicklund serves on the boards of the National Offshore Industry Association, the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, the Energy ESG Council, Nova Compression and the Maguire Energy Institute Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University, his alma mater. He is also on the advisory boards of Merit Advisors and Preng & Associates.
He authors a weekly commentary on the energy market, "Things I Learned This Week."