Dr. John Gault is an independent economist based in Switzerland. He assists clients in the energy industries with investment decisions, the design and negotiation of contracts, and corporate planning. He previously served as senior executive at IEDConsultants SA, International Energy Development Corporation (IEDC) group (now part of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation) and Boston-based energy-consulting firm of Jensen Associates, Inc. Dr. Gault is a graduate of Yale University and holds a PhD in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard. He has taught economics at the American University of Beirut and Bir Zeit University (West Bank), and is the author of numerous publications. Dr. Gault co-founded the Montreux Energy series of international conferences. He is an associate member of the faculty at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, a member of the Geneva Petroleum Club, a Director of Tidal Electric, Inc., and Deputy Editor of the Journal of World Energy Law and Business (published by Oxford University Press and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators).
Professor Alexander Van de Putte is Managing Director with the Kazakhstan Development Bank, Principal Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Professor of Strategic Foresight at IE Business School, Co-Director of the Executive Master in Oil & Gas Leadership at the Graduate Institute, Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at Energy Delta Institute, a Research Fellow at Cambridge University, and an Associate with the US National Intelligence Council. Before joining the Kazakhstan Development Bank, Alexander held several senior executive positions at PFC Energy, the World Economic Forum, Shell International, PricewaterhouseCoopers and McKinsey. He holds advanced degrees in Management and Decision Sciences from Boston University, was a BAEF Fellow at Harvard University, holds a PhD in Applied Economics (Finance) from the University of London, a Doctorate in International Relations from the Geneva School of Diplomacy, and a PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University.
Dr. Giacomo Luciani is Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, Scientific Director of the Master in International Energy, Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences-Po (Paris); Princeton University Global Scholar, teaching at the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Near Eastern Studies; Senior Advisor to the Gulf Research Center and in this context Dr. Luciani serves as the Team Leader in the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network Project. He is also actively involved in the POLINARES FP7 research project. Prof. Luciani’s career has been marked by repeated “trespassing” between academia, industry and government. From 1990 to 2000 he worked for ENI, the Italian Oil Company. He has taught at UCLA (1986-88), the Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence (2000-6), and the College of Europe (2007-8). He has consulted for various international organizations, companies and Gulf governments.
Charles Lutyens is a management professional with over 25 years of international experience in finance, business development and general management roles in the resources industry. He was formerly Head of Project Finance for the Rio Tinto Group and Managing Director of Rio Tinto India, based in New Delhi. After leaving Rio Tinto in 2005, he became Finance Director of Cluff Gold PLC, a gold mining company focused on West Africa. He has also served as Private Sector Adviser to the UK government’s Department for International Development. He is currently a project and development finance consultant, a Director of an oil & gas exploration company and a director of a number of non-profit organizations. Mr. Lutyens has a B.A in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD.