
Keynote Speaker: William E. Jordan
Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EQT Corporation
Presented by Gas Pathways in association with the Canadian Gas Association and the American Gas Association, the North American Natural Gas Summit will deliver a unique perspective on the emerging opportunity for North America to play a leadership role in delivering on both domestic and global energy security and emission reduction goals. The executive level Forum will showcase the natural gas opportunity, both domestically and internationally, the benefits of strong energy policy to attract investment and showcase the role of investors and the emission reduction opportunities being led by the foremost natural gas companies in Canada, the US and Mexico.
Previewing LNG2023 and IGRC 2024
An overview of the LNG2023 conference from July 10th to 13th, 2023 in Vancouver and the IGRC2024 conference to be held in Banff in May 2024, both hosted by the Canadian Gas Association. Held triennially, both events are global in nature and will position Canada as a world class destination for energy investment and clean technology.
> Karen Alderman Harbert, President and CEO, American Gas Association
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> Leslie Palti-Guzman, Cofounder and CEO of Gas Vista
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> Menelaos (Mel) Ydreos, Executive Director, LNG2023
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> Brent Graham, Senior Manager, Government Relations & Public Policy, FortisBC
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> Michele Kisil, Vice President, Customer Experience & Initiatives Natural Gas, ATCO
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> Timothy M. Egan, President and CEO, Canadian Gas Association, Chair, NGIF Capital Corporation, President, CGA Enterprises Inc.
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> Julie Gaudreau, Executive Director of the International Gas Research Conference 2024 (IGRC2024)
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> Jackie Stewart, Vice President and Director, Technical and Economic Initiatives and Government Relations, BILD Calgary
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> Leah Turner, Director of Public Affairs, Tourmaline
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> Greg Grant, President, Natural Gas Pipelines TC Energy |
> Chief Ian Campbell, Hereditary Chief of the Squamish Nation | > Christine Kennedy, President, Woodfibre LNG |
> D. Wayne Blaylock, Associate Director, Ethane and Business Development, Dow Chemical Canada |
Date: Wednesday March 1, 2023
Karen Alderman Harbert is president and chief executive officer of the American Gas Association. Founded in 1918, AGA represents more than 200 local energy utility companies that deliver natural gas to 178 million Americans nationwide. Prior to joining AGA, she was president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute (Energy Institute). Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute evolved into a premier national and international organization dedicated to advancing a constructive energy agenda with the business community, policymakers and consumers. Harbert led the Energy Institute’s development of its comprehensive Energy Works for US platform, which provides policy recommendations to secure our nation’s energy future and create millions of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue, and trillions of dollars of private investment. Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute established the groundbreaking Index of Energy Security Risk and the International Index of Energy Security Risk, the first tools to quantify America’s energy security on an annual basis. Harbert frequently testifies in front of Congress and provides analysis to the media, policymakers, and industry leaders. She currently serves on a number of not-for-profit boards including: United States Energy Association, Bryce Harlow Foundation and Jefferson Islands Club. Harbert is a member of The Economic Club of Washington D.C. Harbert is the former assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She was the primary policy adviser to the secretary of energy and to the department on domestic and international energy issues. She negotiated and managed bilateral and multilateral agreements with other countries and also served as vice chairman of the International Energy Agency, which advises its 28 member nations on energy policy issues and orchestrates international responses to energy supply disruptions. Prior to joining the DOE, Harbert was deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She had oversight of programs in 11 countries, totaling more than $800 million and 1,000 employees. In the private sector, Harbert worked for over a decade developing international infrastructure and power projects valued at more than $9 billion in countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Harbert gained experience on issues associated with economic reform and privatization through earlier positions at the USAID, the Organization of American States, and the International Republican Institute. She received a degree in international policy studies and political science from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Harbert resides in Washington, D.C.
Timothy M. Egan became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Gas Association in September 2010. Since joining CGA Mr Egan has been a strong supporter of the IGU, serving as Canada’s representative, sitting on the Executive Committee, and serving as the Regional Coordinator for North America. He is currently active in the sub-committee working on the “Building For The Future” initiative, looking at the long-term strategic direction of the organization. Mr. Egan is publisher of the Energy Regulation Quarterly, and editor of the magazine Energy. Prior to his appointment he was President of High Park Group (HPG), a public affairs consulting firm. He has an undergraduate degree in history from the University of Ottawa, and common and civil law degrees from McGill University. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1995.
Menelaos (Mel) Ydreos is the Executive Director of EnergyVantage, a consulting firm specializing in supporting transformational energy strategies and solutions. Areas of specialization include global energy policy and strategy, market assessment and implementation strategies and organizational cultural, revenue and cost transformation. Mr. Ydreos currently serves in the capacity of Executive Director LNG2023 on contract by the Canadian Gas Association, the host of LNG2023. Clients of EnergyVantage included the International Gas Union where Ydreos lead the transformation of the Union from a technical association to one of global advocacy. In his previous role with Union Gas Ltd-A Spectra Energy Company, Ydreos lead the company’s government, municipal and aboriginal affairs activities. Other roles held during his career with Union Gas included Vice President, marketing and customer care, Vice President, operations and Vice President, engineering and gas supply operations. Mr. Ydreos also was Acting President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association in the summer of 2009. He is active in the natural gas industry through his participation with the International Gas Union. Ydreos supported the American Gas Association in securing the IGU’s 2015-18 presidency, as well as the 2018 World Gas Conference, which will be held in Washington DC. He serves as Chairman, Co-ordination Committee, for the 2015-18 IGU’s USA Triennium overseeing the work and contribution of 1,000 global industry experts involved in the many IGU committees and task forces. In the previous 2009-12 Malaysian Triennium, he served as chair of the Special Task Force on Geopolitics and Natural Gas. In the 2006-09 Argentinean Triennium, Ydreos served as the vice chair of the Special Task Force on Research and Development and led the IGU’s Best Practices Initiative. Ydreos is the Founding Chair of Energy Technology and Innovation Canada, a past member of the Advisory Board of the University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Institute, a member of Pollution Probe’s Board of Directors and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Mowat Centre’s Energy Fellow. Ydreos is past chair of the Standing Committee on Operations for the Canadian Gas Association, and has served on the board of directors of Canadian Standards International.
As President of Woodfibre LNG, Christine Kennedy is responsible for leading the project through construction. Ms. Kennedy’s current focus is to reach commissioning of the world’s most innovative and sustainable liquefied natural gas export facility ever built.
Ms. Kennedy brings more than 25 years’ experience in senior management roles in the natural resource sector, government, and international market development. Prior to joining WLNG, she held senior roles in the provincial government and the forest products and renewable energy sectors. Ms. Kennedy was recently the Deputy Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness and previously the Associate Deputy Minister in British Columbia’s Office of the Premier.
In previous roles, Ms. Kennedy was the founding CEO of Forestry Innovation investment Ltd, a crown corporation that works with industry to develop new global markets, a Vice President with the Coast Forest Products Association and a Senior Vice President with Canadian Forest Products Ltd.
Julie Gaudreau is the Executive Director of the International Gas Research Conference 2024 (IGRC2024) at the Canadian Gas Association (CGA). In this role, Mrs. Gaudreau oversees the creation, the development and the strategic positioning of the global conference as well as the engagement with the various stakeholders of the gas value chain, including key gas consumers and the gas technology innovation sub-sector. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Laval University and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1997. After articling with a private law firm specializing in criminal, civil and matrimonial law, Mrs. Gaudreau held positions in sales, marketing and human resources in the information technology and financial services sectors for several years. Subsequently, she held a senior advisor position in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada in Ottawa, where she was responsible for stakeholder relations. During this time, she had the opportunity to be part of the War Room team for the 2011 Federal Election. After leaving politics, she joined CN, one of North America's leading railroads, where she served as Senior Counsel - Strategic Advice to the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Services. She then worked as a consultant for the Laval Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Wayne Blaylock is an Associate Director for Dow Chemical Canada’s Feedstocks and Energy business. In this role he is responsible for commercial management Dow’s Canadian ethane supply and leading feedstocks business development for Dow Chemical Canada. Canadian feedstocks business development efforts are currently focused on securing long-term ethane supply contracts in support of Dow’s announced Fort Saskatchewan Path to Zero growth project, which would be the world’s first net-zero ethylene cracker.
Prior to his current role with Dow Chemical Canada, Blaylock held multiple roles in Dow’s Feedstocks and Energy business in Houston, Texas. He was Associate Director, Business Development, responsible for delivering on business development projects globally, including identifying opportunities, analyzing alternatives, and negotiating agreements in support of Dow’s growth objectives. He also previously served as Chief Analyst for commodity fundamentals, where he was responsible for leading coordinated efforts from traders, analysts, and regional experts to build Dow’s global feedstocks fundamentals views.
Blaylock joined Dow in 2011 as a Senior Engineer in Core Research and Development in Midland, Michigan. In this role, he led process development efforts supporting a range of Dow’s businesses including Agricultural Sciences, Electronic Materials, and Performance Monomers. He was also the Dow principal investigator for research collaborations with strategic university partners including the University of Minnesota and Cambridge University.
Blaylock sits on the Technical Advisory Board for the Reaction Chemistry and Engineering Journal and is an author of four granted patents and 11 external research publications. He earned a BS (’03) in chemical engineering from Tennessee Tech and a PhD (’11) in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he investigated computational heterogeneous catalysis applied to steam methane reforming. Prior to obtaining his doctorate, Blaylock worked as a design engineer at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN.