CVs
Ahmet Türkoğlu
Chairman and CEO, Türkiye Petrolleri A.O.
Ahmet Türkoğlu graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of International Relations in 1996. Türkoglu holds an Executive MBA from the same university.
Türkoğlu held several executive positions at various companies after his graduation. In 2010, he was appointed as Deputy General Manager of Türkiye Petrolleri Petrol Dağıtım A.Ş. (Turkish Petroleum) where he served for 3 years.
From 2013 to 2015, he served as the CEO of Öztürk Group of Companies including companies such as OPET and Regnum Hotels.
Throughout 2016, he served as the General Director and Member of Board of Directors of Turkish Energy Company (TEC) and moreover throughout 2017, he worked as the General Director and Chairman of Board of Directors of Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC).
As by June 20, 2019 Türkoğlu was appointed to his current role, the CEO of Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST).
He was elected as board member of EUROPEX (Association of European Energy Exchanges) for two years in 2022.
Türkoğlu simultaneously serves as a member of Board of Directors of TEC (Turkish Energy Company), and the Administrative Board of World Energy Council Turkish National Committee besides his current duties. Furthermore, he is a member of Energy and Natural Gas Sectoral Assembly at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB). Türkoğlu is married with four children, has advanced command of English.
Cem Avcı
Professor at Boğaziçi University, Director at the Energy Policy Research Center (EPAM)
Cem Avcı is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Boğaziçi University. His research interests are in the fields of Sustainability in Infrastructure Projects, Environmental and Social Impact assessments, Soil and Ground Water Quality Investigations and Remediation projects as well as Waste Management Studies. In particular:
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments Research: Hydroelectric Power Plants, Wind farms, Gas Fired Combined Cycle Gas Power Plants, coal and mineral mines), infrastructure (motorways, tunnels and bridges, health campuses, container terminals, airports) and oil and gas (refineries, oil and gas (shale gas, large scale pipelines. Research include impact evaluation, methodology, risk ranking, mitigation measures and monitoring. Turkish and International guidelines.
Water Resources Research: Ground water resources evaluation, aquifer characterization, soil and ground water contamination site assessment, risk based corrective actions and modelling. Surface water watershed modellling, surface water quality modelling. Climate change impact on flood conditions
Waste Management: Engineered landfill containment barrier design, clay liner contamination breakthrough, hydraulics of waste storage facilities.
Environmental Health and Safety Assessments: Effectiveness of Phase I Investigations in sectors spanning cement industry, oil and gas, petrochemical, automotive, pharmaceutical and real estate development
Edmar de Almeida
IAEE President, Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Dr. Edmar de Almeida is professor and researcher at the Institute of Energy in PUC-Rio. Prof. Edmar Almeida is also president-elected at the International Association For Energy Economics - IAEE.
Since 1993, Prof. Almeida teaches in undergraduate and graduate (including MBA) courses focusing largely on the energy sector. He is also active in research and consulting, focusing on the evolution of the oil, gas and electricity industries in Brazil and globally.
His specific research interests include energy economics and regulation and energy transition. Prof. Almeida has advised many government agencies, private and public companies, institutional investors and multilateral organizations on energy sector policy and planning, regulatory issues, market development.
Prof. Almeida graduated in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (1992) and has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Economics (1994) and a PhD in Applied Economics from the Institute of Energy Policy and Economics of the Grenoble University, France (1999). Prof. Almeida is the author or co-author of several books, academic papers and professional articles, and is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences, both in Brazil and abroad.
Efe Biresselioğlu
Professor & Dean of Graduate School at İzmir University of Economics, Türkiye
Mehmet Efe Biresselioglu is a Professor of Energy Policy in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, founding Dean of Graduate School and Head of Sustainable Energy Division at Izmir University of Economics. He is also acting as the Management Board Member of European Energy Research Alliance’s (EERA) Joint Programme on Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts of Energy Policies and Technologies, and the Head of Izmir Circle of Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly (ACIMEDIT).
He is the recipient of Turkey’s most prestigious science award for scholars under 40 – TÜBİTAK Young Scientist Incentive Award on Social Sciences (2020).
He has been acting as Work Package Manager in several Horizon 2020 projects, including ECHOES, EERADATA, eCREW, ENCHANT, DIALOGUES and CAMPAIGNers. Moreover, he has been acting as Coordinator in TUBITAK and BAP supported projects. He is also currently working as a researcher in the project CURE funded by the Norwegian Research Council.
He also taught as a Visiting Lecturer on Energy policy at Den Haag University (the Netherlands), University of Aalborg (Denmark), Budapest College of Management (Hungary), University of Salerno (Italy) and University of Minho (Portugal).
Previous to his current positions, he acted as a Lecturer at EU’s INOGATE Programme (Baku, Azerbaijan), Sr. Visiting Research Fellow in Norwegian Institute of International Affairs’ Energy Program (Oslo, Norway), and non-resident Jr. Fellow at Finnish Business and Policy Forum (Helsinki, Finland).
He completed his Ph.D. at IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy and also received his ‘Doctor Europaeus’ degree with the approval of Confederation of EU Rectors. He received his MA in European Studies from Jean Monnet Center of Excellence at University of Turku, Finland and his BA in Political Science and Public Administration from Bilkent University, Turkey. He is also proud to be a graduate of TED Ankara College for his high school education similar to many of his family members.
His current research focuses on (1) examining the role of energy security in energy policy making, (2) analyzing individual and collective energy choices and social acceptance of energy transitions, (3) assessing the existing energy and environment policies and targets, (4) developing methodologies for impact assessment of political, economic, technologic shifts in energy and environment domain, and (5) resource curse.
He published several articles related to energy issues in the leading journals such as Nature Scientific Reports, Energy Policy, Journal for Cleaner Production, Energy and Energy Research&Social Science. He is also the author of the “European Energy Security: Turkey’s Future Role and Impact” (UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and the editor of “Enerji Güvenliği Perspektifinden Türkiye’ye Bakış” (TR:EHAEY, 2015). He is also acting as an Associate Editor for Frontiers Environmental Psychology Journal.
Elchin Ibadov
Chief Executive Officer, SOCAR Türkiye
Elchin Ibadov is the Chief Executive Officer of SOCAR Türkiye in Istanbul. He started his career at the World Trade Centers Association in Chicago (USA), where he was inspired by the professional approach and positive attitudes of the auditors. In 2003 he joined PwC, a professional services firm engaged in auditing, consulting, cybersecurity, governance, risk management, transformation, and tax services. He established and headed the successful PwC Academy in Azerbaijan that provides specialists with professional training in a range of disciplines important to PwC’s clients and employees in the Caspian region.
In 2014 he joined SOCAR (the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) Türkiye group of companies. SOCAR is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Before becoming CEO, Elchin enjoyed the daily challenges of being the CFO of a large SOCAR refinery.
Elchin Ibadov is a holder of the Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and also holds a PhD degree in Financial Economics. He is a Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and is affiliated with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) as well as the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). He dreams of having the power to change the design of university education to make it more responsive to the needs of the business world, with more ‘hands-on’ and practical experiences.
Professor at İzmir University of Economics, Türkiye
Gürkan Kumbaroğlu
Vice Rector, Boğaziçi University, President TRAEE
Dr. Kumbaroğlu obtained his PhD in 2001 from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU). After his doctoral studies, Kumbaroğlu conducted research for two years at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States. He continued his academic career at Boğaziçi University while also serving as a Visiting Professor at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Campinas in Brazil, the Port Harcourt University in Nigeria, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, the METU Northern Cyprus Campus in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and the George Washington University in the United States.
In 2011, he received Türkiye's first Energy Oscar Award in the category of "Scientific Contribution to Energy Markets." Additionally, in 2012, he was awarded the "Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists" by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Kumbaroğlu served as the President of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) in 2016 and continues to serves as the Leader of Eurasia in IAEE’s Energy Geo-economics Committee. He is the President of the Turkish Association for Energy Economics TRAEE, which represents IAEE in Türkiye.
Assistant to the President for Public Policy and Associate Professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University
Dr. Leila Dagher is Assistant to the President for Public Policy and Associate Professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University and has been an adjunct lecturer at the George Washington University since 2016. She currently serves as an editor for Energy Policy, as well as on the editorial boards for Finance Research Letters, Management Decision, Utilities Policy, and Development and Sustainability in Economics and Finance. Dr. Dagher is a regular participant in academic and policy debates. Her research focuses on economics and policy issues related to the areas of energy, environment, and financial crises, among others. She has published more than 25 peer-reviewed articles. Her work has appeared in leading academic journals such as the Energy Journal, Energy Economics, and in more widely accessible forums. Dr. Dagher received her Bachelor of Engineering from the American University of Beirut and her Ph.D. in Mineral Economics from the Colorado School of Mines. Before joining the LAU, Dr. Dagher had taught for 15 years at the American University of Beirut with several visiting stints including Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
H.E. Majid A. Al-Moneef, PhD
Chairman of the Board, SAEE
HE Dr. Majid Al-Moneef was the Secretary General of the Supreme Economic Council of Saudi Arabia, Governor of Saudi Arabia in the Board of Governors of OPEC, and its representative its Economic Commission Board. He was the Chairman of the International Advisory Group of the King Abdullah Center for Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), president of the Saudi Economic Association, the Arab Energy Forum, and the Energy Group of the Gulf Cooperation Council. He also was vice-dean and professor of economics at King Saud University, member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, the Board of Directors of Saudi Aramco, and the Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum (ERF)
Senior Advisor, F. Minister of Information in the Lebanese Cabinet. Senior Advisor in taxation, financial and public policy at multinational organizations. F. Minister of Information in the Lebanese Cabinet.
PhD holder in law from Paris 1 University, Panthéon–Sorbonne, with high distinction. Awarded a lifetime membership at Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Honor Society, in recognition of her high scholastic achievement during her MBA studies at the American University of Beirut AUB (GPA 4/4), and her executive program in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS).
Dr. Manal is an active advocate for women’s empowerment and gender equality. She has been nominated by the OECD to join the Pioneer Group of international Women Leaders in Tax Transparency in 2022. She is an advocate of human rights, and has been honored in August 2022 by the International Human Rights Commission IHRC –Organization with UN –
ECOSOC Special Status, a “High Level Certificate” for expediting her responsibilities during her term as Minister of Information (2020-2021) with honesty and dignity for the best interest of humanity. Dr. Manal has more than 27 years of executive, consulting/advisory, and academic/training experience across several financial and leadership aspects, mainly taxation, strategic planning, change management, leadership/management, and communication/dialogue. She headed several leading positions at the Tax Administration in the Lebanese Ministry of Finance. She was a pioneer member of the VAT Implementation Project Team in Lebanon, and was an active contributor in preparing the Lebanese Government to sign the Multilateral Convention (MLI) to implement treaty related measures to prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), under the OECD/G20 BEPS package. Manal Abdel Samad Bio- Dec. 2024 2 During 2022, Dr. Manal supported the provision of technical support on key USAID tax administration procedural reform initiatives. She dialogued with the
counterparts to support the effective implementation of the new best-practice manualized procedures under a pilot program. She also contributed to the provision of training in relevant areas. Under the same project, Dr. Manal also
supported the implementation of the value added tax and excise tax, by preparing draft laws and regulations, and discussing the tax policy with the counterparts. From October 2022 till September 2024, Dr. Manal was acting as senior tax
advisor for one of the Big Four in the Gulf. She worked on building a tax system in one of the Giga projects and leading key priority accounts for governmental institutions in the Gulf, mainly Saudi Arabia. Dr. Manal is a speaker and trainer at international conferences and workshops, and a university lecturer in taxation, leadership, emotional intelligence, strategic
planning, and change management, at the American University of Beirut and Saint-Joseph University in Beirut.
She has been nominated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a TADAT Assessor, then a Lead TADAT Assessor, and her first mission was in 2018 to evaluate the tax administration in Tunisia based on international good practice.
Dr. Manal has been a main contributor to the yearly Arab Regional Tax Forum, held by the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), Washington D.C., in collaboration with ministries of finance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). As Minister of Information, Dr. Manal had a strong commitment to transparency
and accountability in a challenging period marked by Lebanon's financial collapse and socio-political unrest. Her role in fostering accountability, enhancing transparency, and ensuring public communication and engagement in these
reforms was crucial, although systemic issues limited the overall impact of these efforts. She played a pivotal role in supporting Lebanon's financial recovery efforts, contributing to the Government’s Financial Recovery Plan and
advocating for transparency through the forensic audit of the Central Bank and the appointment of four new Vice Governors to strengthen financial oversight, Manal Abdel Samad Bio- Dec. 2024 3 also spearheaded initiatives to improve border scanning systems to combat trafficking.
Within the ministry mandate, Dr. Manal promoted transparency and public engagement through town-hall meetings with stakeholders on budget laws and recovery plans. She also led campaigns on access to information, cybersecurity,
and media freedom. Dr. Manal actively promoted the government’s reform agenda, and pushed for the enactment and enforcement of several laws, including the Access to Information Law, and contributed to the Anti-Corruption Strategy
adopted in May 2020.
Dr. Abdel Samad had her distinctive fingerprint in the media field. She proposed an updated media law, launched several awareness campaigns (COVID19, cybersecurity, access to information...), initiated a Humanitarian Award for
Beirut under the Cap of the Arab Countries' League, and got their approval to nominate Beirut as “Arab Media City for 2023”. She set strategies and plans to implement the Access to Information Law. She initiated a master archiving plan for public media outlets. Fluent in Arabic, English and French.
Chief Economist at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI),
Marcello Contestabile is Chief Economist at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Joint Professor at the College of Public Policy, Hamad bin Khalifa University, and Visiting Fellow at Imperial College London. Over the last 20 years he has specialised in techno-economic and policy analysis of clean energy technologies, working at the interface between research, government and industry. Marcello has a PhD in Energy Policy and Technology from Imperial College London, where he served as a Research Fellow and held multiple research grants. Marcello also worked as Research Fellow at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Managing Consultant at specialist energy-environmental strategy firm E4tech in London. Marcello’s research at QEERI focuses on assessing long-term GHG emissions mitigation pathways for Qatar and the performance of the national cleantech innovation ecosystem.
Vice President of the Arab Energy Forum, a Research Scientist at the EBRC at the Kuwait Institute
Osamah Alsayegh is the Vice President of the Arab Energy Forum, a Research Scientist at the Energy and Building Research Center at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), and a Nonresident Fellow at both the Center for Energy Studies and the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, Texas, USA.
He previously served as Executive Director of the Energy and Building Research Center, Acting Executive Director of the Environment and Life Sciences Research Center at KISR, Kuwait’s National Liaison Officer for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and as Technical Coordinator at the former Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee (KNNEC).
Dr. Alsayegh holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).
Professor and Vice Chancellor for Research,
American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Dr. Steven Griffiths is Professor and Vice Chancellor for Research at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), overseeing the university's research administration, centers, infrastructure, and partnerships. His research expertise centers on energy technology development and adoption within a sociotechnical systems context. Dr. Griffiths has a global profile in the energy sector, including his role as a Global Energy Prize International Award Committee member and as Editorial Board Member and Associate Editor for leading journals like Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and Energy Strategy Reviews. He is also a non-resident Fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy. Previously, he held senior research leadership roles at the Khalifa University of Science and Technology and the Masdar Institute of Science Technology. Dr. Griffiths holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Taha Melis Arvas
Chief Executive Officer, EPİAŞ
Taha Meli Arvas was born and raised in Syracuse, New York in November of 1980. He completed a double major at Syracuse University, in bioengineering and finance in 2003. He continued his master’s studies at the City University of New York Graduate Center majoring in political science. He went on to obtain an MBA from Özyeğin University in 2013 and later a master’s in financial engineering in 2014. He is currently conducting a PhD in Financial Engineering at Boğaziçi University. Mr Arvas started his professional career starting a management consulting company providing advisory services to clients in business and investment strategies. He later was a financial columnist for various leading national and international media outlets and appeared on-air as a commentator on his areas of expertise. He was also a part of the Istanbul Financial Risk Management Laboratory for many years evaluating risks faced by firms and nations. Appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Capital Markets of Boards of Türkiye in 2020, he aimed to expand access to capital markets for firms, to increase financial literacy among retail investors, and to combat manipulation in capital markets. Arvas also served as an adjunct professor of finance at Özyeğin University in 2020 and Boğaziçi University between 2021 and 2024. He joined the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in July of 2023 acting as a senior policy advisor to Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and as of February 9th of 2024, he was appointed as the General Manager of EPİAŞ.
Vilayet Valiyev
Rector, Azerbaijan Technical University
Dr. Vilayat Valiyev is a recognized leading researcher and expert on energy sector and economy. His career of over thirty years has been marked by academic distinction in teaching and research in the areas of the application of uncertainty/risk analyses to resource extraction, development of optimization programs for oil and gas recovery, economic and technical analysis of rehabilitation projects in the energy sector, and analysis of laws and contractual arrangements intended to facilitate the development of both the upstream energy sector and the domestic utility industry, commercial assignments in the development of financial and management accounting systems for fuel and energy enterprises; economic modelling, forecasting and strategic planning; regional development and enhancing inter-sectoral ties; determination of tax rates; decision-making on investments and innovations.
Dr. Valiyev has been conducting studies on a number of problems in upstream oil & gas sector, such as rational coordination of works in geological-geophysical, exploration and development phases for oil & gas fields and condensate fields; preparation of feasibility studies for development of oil & gas and condensate fields; estimation and projection of oil & gas and condensate reserves and their extraction; development of Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) models for joint development of oil & gas reserves; study of various perspective geological, technical and economic problems and strategic decision-making in oil & gas production, etc.
Along with above-mentioned, Dr. Valiyev has carried out research on expanding financial and investment capacity of enterprises, public-private partnerships, optimal tax rates, regional inequalities, identification of competitive advantages of economic sectors and products, sectoral analysis, constructing social accounts matrix (SAM), computable general equilibrium (CGE) and macro-econometric models, economic forecasting and strategic planning, while developing decision making mechanisms at various levels.