IHS CERA Russian and Caspian Energy Roundtable

Anna Galtsova

IHS CERA Senior Research Analyst

Anna Galtsova, IHS CERA Research Associate, Russian and Caspian Energy, focuses on the analysis of broad trends and issues in the energy sector of the Former Soviet Union countries, especially in the gas industry, as well as project economics. Prior to joining IHS CERA Ms. Galtsova was an equity analyst at Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital covering the oil sector in Central Asia. She also worked at the Russian consulting company ERTA-consult, where she conducted in-depth analysis of the Russian gas market, including asset valuation, supply-demand forecast modeling, pricing outlooks, transportation issues, and market rules and regulation.

Ms. Galtsova holds a degree from Moscow State Linguistic University and a certificate from State University-Higher School of Economics.

Thane Gustafson

IHS CERA Senior Director of Russian and Caspian Energy, IHS CERA

Thane Gustafson, IHS CERA Senior Director of Russian and Caspian Energy, is a widely recognized authority on Eurasia who has spent 35 years studying and traveling in Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the Former Soviet Union. He is the author of Capitalism Russian Style, described as “a tough-minded analysis of Russia’s roller-coaster ride from communism to capitalism” by Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith. Dr. Gustafson is also the coauthor (with Daniel Yergin) of Russia 2010 and What It Means for the World and the author of Crisis Amid Plenty: The Politics of Soviet Energy Under Brezhnev and Gorbachev, which was awarded the Marshall Shulman Prize as the best book on Soviet affairs. Dr. Gustafson is currently at work on a history of the Russian oil and gas industry since the end of the Soviet Union. Formerly a professor at Harvard University and a political analyst at the Rand Corporation, he is also professor of government at Georgetown University.

Dr. Gustafson founded the IHS CERA Russian and Caspian team and directed it for 15 years. He is the author of over 200 IHS CERA reports, including analyses of technology transfer and the Russian “oil miracle”; gas market development and transportation issues, including new pipelines; quality banking; Russian oil production growth and the domestic and foreign markets; US-Russian political and energy relations; regulatory and legal reform in the Russian energy sector; and gas and power reform.

Dr. Gustafson holds a BS from the University of Illinois and a PhD from Harvard University.

Maxim Nechaev

Senior Consultant, IHS CERA

Matthew Sagers

IHS CERA Senior Director and Head of Russian and Caspian Energy

Matthew J. Sagers, IHS CERA Senior Director, Energy Economics for Eurasia, is a well-known expert on energy, energy transportation systems, and regional economic development in the Former Soviet Union, including pipeline constraints and solutions in Eurasia, and is an authority on energy policy in that region. Dr. Sagers heads the IHS CERA Eurasian Transportation Forum, a platform for improving the transportation environment for oil and gas in the region. He is a key contributor to IHS CERA’s Russian and Caspian Advisory Services, including the Eurasian Oil Export Outlook, Eurasian Gas Export Outlook, and analysis of the Russian domestic oil market.

Dr. Sagers’ recent research reports provide analysis of the Russian oil production and export outlook to 2030, Russian upstream and oil export taxation, Russian and Turkmen gas development prospects, the outlook for Russian gas consumption, flexibility in Russian gas supply, Russian liquefied petroleum gas issues, the Russian oil refining sector’s future prospects, oil markets in Kazakhstan, and new pipeline projects in Russia and Eurasia (including the East Siberia–Pacific Ocean pipeline), among other issues.

In the past Dr. Sagers has also served on several World Bank missions, study teams, and advisory panels focused on oil pipelines in Russia and Kazakhstan. He has worked on the International Energy Agency’s Survey of the Russian Energy Sector and Survey of the Ukrainian Energy Sector. Prior to joining IHS CERA Dr. Sagers was Director of the Energy Service at PlanEcon, Inc., where he led that company’s analysis of the energy sector in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and prior to that was Chief of the Soviet Branch in the US Census Bureau’s Center for International Research. Previously he was an economic advisor to the newly formed Federated States of Micronesia and a professor of geography at Weber State University and the University of Virginia. He is a coauthor of The Chemical Industry in the USSR: An Economic Geography and of The Transportation of Soviet Energy Resources, as well as author of extensive articles, government reports, and other publications.

Dr. Sagers holds a BS degree (magna cum laude) from Weber State University and MA and PhD degrees from The Ohio State University.

Christopher de Vere Walker

Research Director, IHS CERA

Christopher de Vere Walker, IHS CERA Research Director, is an authority on the Russian and Caspian power sectors and markets. He specializes in the regions’ physical and financial power sector structures and market fundamentals. His expertise also includes ongoing deregulatory issues, risk management, and real-time and historical market data analysis.

Prior to joining IHS CERA Mr. de Vere Walker was founding director of DVW Group Limited, which focused on the multitude of issues surrounding the deregulation of the Russian power sector, advising international, and Russian utility clients, oil majors and financial institutions. Before creating DVW Group Limited Mr. de Vere Walker headed GFI Group’s Eastern European Energy Markets division in London, where he was responsible for business development in Russia and the Balkans. Prior to GFI Group he headed the energy brokerage power derivatives team in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe for Link Asset and Securities Ltd, covering forwards, swaps, and options of electric power contracts for producers, suppliers, and traders.

He conducted business and advised clients during the critical collapse of Enron and the transitional period of the Pool Purchasing Price to the UK New Electricity Trading Arrangement. Earlier in his career Mr. de Vere Walker implemented a stand-alone electronic trading platform that traded Brent Oil and the FTSE 100 future. He also increased trading ties between the two largest oil exchanges in the world: the International Petroleum Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange. He began his professional career with Saratoga Limited as an options trader and later a Clearing Manager and successfully doubled Saratoga’s presence on both the London Financial Futures and Options Exchange and the International Petroleum Exchange.

Mr. de Vere Walker completed his formal education in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, where he served eight years.

John Webb

IHS CERA Director

John C. Webb, IHS CERA Director for Russian and Caspian Energy, specializes in the Russian Federation, with a focus on the oil industry, the primary hydrocarbon-producing provinces, and the government’s energy policy at the federal and regional levels. He also monitors the more general evolution of Russian politics and of the economy and their impact on the investment climate and energy projects. Dr. Webb’s recent IHS CERA research includes analyses of upstream Russian oil sector investment and production trends, changing regional refined product consumption patterns, and new crude transportation and export dynamics. He has contributed to Journal of Contemporary History, The Russian Review, The Cold War: 1945-1991, and The Politics of Local Government in Russia.

Dr. Webb holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from Georgetown University.

Vitaly Yermakov

IHS CERA Senior Director

Vitaly Yermakov, IHS CERA Director, Global Gas and Russian and Caspian Energy, has over 15 years of industry experience and leads IHS CERA research on Russia’s natural gas market. He also focuses on the analysis of Russia’s investment climate, the tax and regulatory environment and economic modeling. His recent research includes analysis of gas demand issues and gas price regulation in Russia, analysis of tax changes for Russian oil and gas industries and the economic stimulus policies of the Russian government. Prior to joining IHS CERA Mr. Yermakov was a Manager for Economic Analysis with Strategy and New Business Development at TNK-BP Management, a Senior Tax Consultant with Arthur Andersen, a Tax Consultant with Harvard Institute of International Development and an Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at Samara State University.

Mr. Yermakov holds a master’s degree from Duke University and a PhD from Samara State University.