XVIII Annual Forum – Our Speakers’ Biographies

Following his studies which commenced with a bachelorai??i??s degree in geology from Newcastle University in 1979 and then a petroleum geology masterai??i??s degree from Imperial College London in 1983, Martin Houston was employed by BG Group plc and its predecessor companies, retiring after 30 years in February 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors. During his international career, Martin has conducted business in over 40 countries. More than half of this time was spent living in foreign locations including Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, the Philippines and the USA. Heai??i??s managed all forms of enterprise in the energy industry, has established a strong external reputation in the international gas business and is largely credited with being the key architect of BG Groupai??i??s world class LNG business. In recognition of this, in 2011 he was the first recipient of the CWC LNG executive of the year award. He was previously (2004 ai??i?? 2009) a non-executive director of Severn Trent plc, an integrated water and environmental company. He is a former director of SIGTTO, the international organization representing gas tanker and gas terminal operators worldwide. From 2008 – 2014 he was the GIIGNL regional vice-president for the Americas. In early 2014, he founded Parallax Energy an integrated energy company based in Houston, which to-date has upstream investments in onshore US non-operated oil and gas projects and is developing Live Oak LNG, a mid-scale LNG export project located on the Calcasieu River in Louisiana, USA. In January 2014, he was appointed as a non-executive director of BUPA, an international healthcare group, serving more than 28 million customers in over 190 countries. In March 2014, Martin was appointed a senior advisor to the New York based private equity firm, Pine Brook Road Partners. In June 2014, he was appointed a non-executive director of CCC Energy. In January 2015, he was appointed as the chairman of TPH International. Martin sits on the National Petroleum Council of the United States, is a Companion of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He sits on the Development Committee of the Royal Opera House of London.

Michele McNichol grew up in the oil and gas industry, always intrigued by her fatherai??i??s career in oil & gas. Following in his footsteps, she obtained an engineering degree and embarked on an exciting career of her own, traveling around the world and working on world-class oil & gas projects. With over 28 years of experience in the oil & gas industry, Michele was named chief executive officer (CEO) of Wood Group Mustang in February 2015, a result of hard work,technical and business savvy, and lots of ai???passion and gritai??i??. Michele oversees 8,600 Mustangers performing project management, engineering, procurement and construction services from offices in the United States, Latin America, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, Malaysia, Angola and Saudi Arabia. She also serves on Wood Groupai??i??s Executive Committee. In 2012, Michele was appointed executive vice president for the operations of Wood Group Mustangai??i??s offshore, onshore, oil sands and pipeline operations worldwide. She was a key leader in the internationalization of Wood Group Mustangai??i??s offshore business over the past 10 years as it established operations worldwide, and those efforts have resulted in half of WG Mustangai??i??s employees and revenue generation coming from outside of the U.S. She has been an executive sponsor for two acquisitions, a pipeline business in Western Canada and most recently a Norwegian offshore engineering and construction operations company comprising 600 people.Michele is also a member of the Wood Group Shale Steering Committee, which oversees Wood Group-wide activity in the worldwide shale market. With Mustang since 2001, Michele has championed world-class EPC contracting strategies and initiatives with international fabricators in support of growing Wood Group Mustangai??i??s upstream business operations. Prior to her roles of CEO and executive vice president, Michele served in various roles including president of the upstream business unit and regional director for the Americas, where she was responsible for upstream operations across North and South America. Her tenure at Mustang also includes high-profile industry projects, including serving as Mustangai??i??s project manager for BP Thunder Horse, the worldai??i??s largest semi-submersible production facility. Michele started her career as a process engineer with Amoco Production Company before joining ABB Randall.At Randall, McNichol served as a process engineer, project engineer and ultimately a project manager. She was involved in many projects with the full range of EPC scopes, from engineering studies to full execution models,from concept through start-up, including management of direct-hire fabrication and construction. Michele holds a B. S. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and is a registered professional engineer in Texas. She is also a certified Project Management Professional. Michele participated in the Engineering & Construction Contracting Association CC as a Future Leader for three years, serving as co-leader of the group her final year. She served as a member of the Topsides Advisory Board which sets the technical sessions for the annual Topsides (Platforms-Hulls) Conference and has participated as a member of the Texas A&M College of Architecture Deanai??i??s Advisory Council. She is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Project Management Institute. Michele is a native of Oklahoma City and has three children. She is very involved in her childrenai??i??s education and activities, volunteering many hours through activities such as Junior Achievement, Science Labs, Reading Enrichment, and Girl Scouts.

Bob Tippee is Editor of Oil & Gas Journal, a weekly trade magazine, and its website, Oil & Gas Journal Online. Since joining the Journal staff in 1977, he has written on all technical, economic, and political aspects of the international petroleum industry. He writes the Journalai??i??s weekly editorials and a weekly column, The Editorai??i??s Perspective. His work has won awards from American Business Media, New York Society of Business Press Editors, Association of Petroleum Writers, International Association for Energy Economics, International Association of Energy Advocates, and Houston Society for Technical Communications. He has won the Cicero Speechwriting Award twice and is the 2010 recipient of American Business Mediaai??i??s G.D. Crain, Jr. Award honoring contributions to the development of editorial excellence in business media. Tippee became the Journalai??i??s chief editor in January 1999. He also was Editor-in-Chief of the 1997 through 2001 editions of the Journalai??i??s annual affiliate, International Petroleum Encyclopedia. Tippee has directed many PennWell Petroleum Group conferences and written or cowritten three books on oil and gas subjects. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Tulsa and served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force for four years.

Jeff Reilly is currently serving as Group President ai??i?? Strategy & Business Development for Amec Foster Wheeler. In that role, he leads the companyai??i??s overall strategic efforts as well as business development activities across all market segments globally (Oil & Gas, Mining & Metals, Environment & Infrastructure, and Clean Energy/Power). Jeff started his international career with Stone & Webster as a Chemical Process Design Engineer and developed his career there and at ABB Lummus Global as company Vice President at both Engineering and Construction organizations. He spent 9 years at ConocoPhillips/Phillips 66 ultimately as the groupai??i??s Chief Procurement Officer and global head of projects. He has a BS Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin; an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Houston.

Thomas R. Anderson is the President of Lutech Resources & Senior Vice President of Staffing and Recruiting for CB&I. Tom has more than 30 years of experience in domestic and international operations, sales and management. His previous role was Vice President, Global Marketing, a position he assumed when he joined CB&I in November 2007. Prior to joining CB&I, he served as Senior Vice President at NorthStar Communications Group, a subsidiary of BE&K, Vice President of sales at Fluor, and President of TRS Staffing Solutions, a Fluor subsidiary.Ai??Tom is the former Chairperson and a current member of the Board of Directors for the Rice Global E&C Forum. He holds a bachelorai??i??s degree in business administration from California State University at Long Beach and a masterai??i??s in business administration from Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.

Combat-wounded Staff Sergeant (Ret.) Johnny ai???Joeyai??? Jones turned a traumatic, life-changing disability into a personal mission to improve the lives of all veterans. Now serving as the spokesperson and Chief Operating Officer for the national nonprofit Boot Campaign, Jones is key to educating the civilian public and corporate America on issues concerning veterans and their families in a nonpartisan, inspiring way. Part of that role includes advocating for veterans in the media, regularly appearing as an outspoken, yet insightful military analyst for Fox Newsai??i?? ai???The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson.ai??? Jones has also been featured on CNN, ABCai??i??s ai???Nightline,ai??? ai???CBS Evening News,ai??? ai???Huckabee,ai??? ai???Hannity,ai??? ai???On the Record with Greta Van Sustren,ai??? ai???Fox & Friends,ai??? The Realai??? and regularly appears on Hallmark Channelai??i??s ai???Home & Family.ai??? On the big screen, he appeared in the Academy Award-winning film ai???Lincoln,ai??? and is billed as a technical advisor for the independent film ai???Bad Hurt.ai??? Known to his friends as ai???Triple J,ai??? Jones was raised in Dalton, Georgia and enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school. During his eight years of service, he worked as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (bomb) Technician, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan on three combat tours. During his last deployment to Afghanistan, Jones was responsible for disarming and destroying more than 80 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and thousands of pounds of other unknown bulk explosives. It was during that tour on August 6, 2010 when he stepped on and initiated an IED, resulting in the loss of both of his legs above the knee and severe damage to his right forearm and both wrists. He then spent two grueling years in recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington D.C. Determined to make the road to recovery easier for his fellow wounded veterans, Jones started a peer visit program at Walter Reed, which provided opportunities for others recovering from life-changing injuries to mentor and encourage newly-injured patients. This led to an unprecedented year-long fellowship on Capitol Hill with the House Committee on Veteransai??i?? Affairs, his contributions resulting in the creation of an annual fellowship and paving the way for other inspiring Marine wounded warriors. After his discharge from Walter Reed, Jones enrolled in Georgetown University, where he earned a bachelorai??i??s degree in Liberal Studies. During his time at the university, he was a leader within his student body and co-founded the first veteran student organization at the school. His time at Georgetown fostered relationships and efforts that are still changing the lives of veteran students on campus today. Jones was introduced to the Boot Campaign in 2011 through Joe Nichols, country music artist and Boot Campaign celebrity ambassador. He quickly realized that his personal goals and objectives were aligned with the charityai??i??s mission to raise awareness of veteransai??i?? issues, promote patriotism and provide assistance to military families. He joined the nonprofit first as a speaker and public affairs director, quickly moving into a leading role as the Executive Director of Marketing.

Dick Westney founded Westney Consulting Group in 1978 after managing international projects for Exxon. In addition to his consulting work which is focused on strategic risk management, he is the author of 5 books on project and risk management, and has served as visiting faculty at Texas A&M, Stanford, the Norwegian Institute of Science & Technology, and Moscow School of Management. He is a popular speaker for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE); and serves of the Executive Advisory Board of the Engineering & Construction Contracting Association (ECC). Dick is also a Fellow and Past President of The Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE Intai??i??l.) and winner of its highest honor, the Award of Merit. Dick is a graduate of the City College of New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Harvard Business School.

Jerry Kavalieratos is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsalai??i??s Performance Improvement Practice and has over twenty-eight years of experience in the oil & gas, EPC, oilfield services, chemicals and aerospace industries. He spent the first eight years of his career as an Officer in the United States Air Force focused on nuclear weapons operations, sourcing and large weapon systems projects. Over the last twenty years, he has focused his professional efforts improving the physical value chains of oil & gas and oilfield services companies, how they integrate with EPC firms, and the execution of capital projects. In addition to the U.S., he has served energy industry clients in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Kavalieratos leads Alvarez & Marsalai??i??s regional Operations and Supply Chain Practice and co-leads its EPC industry practice.

As the leader of Ragsdale Group, Dean Ragsdale currently provides contractors and owners consulting advice in the areas of contract strategy, contractor selection, contract structure and contractor / owner dispute settlement for clients in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. Prior to his retirement from The Dow Chemical Company in 2007, Deanai??i??s 32 years of experience were spent working in ethylene, polyethylene and polycarbonate businesses in Process Engineering, Operations and Procurement in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Kuwait, Netherlands and U.S.A.Ai?? During the last ten years at Dow, Dean was responsible for setting contract strategy for all of Dowai??i??s outsourced engineering projects, globally. Dean has a Bachelors of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelors of Business in Accounting and a Masters of Business in Economics and Finance both from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.

Prior to his retirement in June 2015, Luc J. Messier served as senior vice president, projects, supply chain and aviation for ConocoPhillips. He was also the Chief Procurement Officer. Messier joined ConocoPhillips in February 2007, after serving as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Technip USA since July 2005. He began at Technip in January 2003 and served first as chief operating officer and then as president and CEO of Technip Offshore Inc. Prior to joining Technip, Messier held engineering, project management and managing director roles at Bouygues Construction and Pomerleau. He serves on the board of directors of Mercury and the advisory board of Da Camera. Messier holds bachelor degrees in civil engineering from the University of Sherbrooke and studied Spanish at Bishopai??i??s and McGill University, as well as business administration at INSEAD.