Meet the members of the judging panel for the eighth Oil & Gas Middle East and Refining & Petrochemicals Middle East Awards, who will bring their industry insight and varied expertise to bear to select the most deserving winners for each of the 12 categories at this year’s Awards show.
Abhay Bhargava, Business head – MENASA, Energy and Environment pratice, Frost & Sullivan
Abhay Bhargava heads the energy and environment practice for Frost & Sullivan in the Middle East. With more than 14 years of global experience across the energy, power, ICT, and manufacturing industries, Bhargava is a business expansion specialist, with proven global expertise, predominantly in the Middle East and India, and exposure to the North America, Turkey, and Kazakhstan markets. Bhargava’s specialisation in the energy industry is backed by an understanding of companies across the entire energy industry value chain.
Saji Sam, Partner – Energy, Oliver Wyman
Saji Sam is a partner with Oliver Wyman’s global energy practice. He has more than 20 years of experience in the energy sector, both in management consulting and in various leadership positions with Schlumberger. His expertise covers upstream E&P, downstream refining and petrochemicals, and power. Sam’s clients include NOCs, IOCs, and governments throughout the Middle East, Africa, India, China, and Australia, where he has advised industry leaders on strategy, organisation, and operational challenges.
Vinod Raghothamarao, Director consulting, Energy Wide Perspectives, IHS Markit
Vinod Raghothamarao has worked on strategy; market intelligence; investment advisory; supply chain and operations; technology; CAPEX/OPEX advisory; health, safety, and environment (HSE); and risk-management consulting assignments. He has been involved with energy and mining clients in the US, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. In his current role,  Raghothamarao works across sectors including upstream, midstream, downstream, power, gas, coal, and renewables.
Angie Slavens, Managing director, UniverSUL Consulting
Angie Slavens has more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas business, primarily focussed on sulphur recovery and sour gas treatment. She has served as sulphur technology manager for two leading sulphur technology licensing firms. In 2014, Slavens initiated an owners’ engineering-focussed consulting business, UniverSUL Consulting, based in Abu Dhabi. She has published numerous papers and is a member of several international conference committees. She currently serves on the board of directors for Alberta Sulphur Research Limited (ASRL).
Mustafa Ansari, Analyst – Energy Research, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP)
Mustafa Ansari is an energy economist at APICORP, where he was responsible for the implementation of the strategy for the newly formed energy research unit. Previously, he was an economist at the Department of Energy (UK), where he led the economic analysis for the business case to establish the Green Investment Bank for funding projects that mitigate climate change. In 2014, he advised government on the UK’s decarbonisation policy. He regularly speaks at global forums and conferences about challenges specific to the Middle East and North Africa.
Nizar Jichi, Audit partner, Oil and gas practice – Lower Gulf, KPMG
Partner and head of energy and natural resources at KPMG – Lower Gulf, Nizar Jichi has more than 20 years of experience in corporate audit and advisory services in a variety of industry sectors, with a particular focus on oil and gas within the US, GCC, and other regions. Nizar specialises in the oil and gas value chain, including upstream, downstream, and oilfield services. The industry leader for KPMG Oman and UAE, Jichi’s experience enables him to provide clients with insight into IFRS, US GAAP, and the identification and resolution of financial reporting issues.
