KNOW Energy London

Nariman Behravesh

Chief Economist, IHS

Dr. Nariman Behravesh is Chief Economist of IHS and author of Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense, Nonpartisan Guide to Today's Global Economic Debates (McGraw-Hill). Directing the entire economic forecasting process at IHS, he is responsible for developing the economic outlook and risk analysis for the United States, Europe, Japan, China and other emerging markets. He oversees the work of over 400 professionals, located in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa who cover economic, financial and political developments in over 200 countries.

Behravesh is a "Bloomberg Best" and ranked as one of Bloomberg's Top-10 economists for 2009 and 2010. MarketWatch designated IHS Global Insight "Forecaster of the Year" in 2009 and has bestowed several Forecaster of the Month accolades since. He and his team were designated #1 in USA Today's 2004 ranking of top economic forecasters, and in Reuters' 2004 survey of major currency exchange rate forecasters. In 2008, he was ranked #2 by USA Today. In The Wall Street Journal's annual ranking of US forecasters, Behravesh was ranked #3 (out of 56) for 2006 and was the only forecaster to place in the top six for 2003, 2004 and 2006. As the chief economics spokesperson at IHS, Behravesh is quoted extensively in the media on such topics as the outlook for the US and global economies, exchange rates, the budget deficit, the trade deficit, globalization, country risk and sovereign debt crises. He is cited frequently in leading business publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, Business Week, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes and US News and World Report. He also regularly appears on national radio and television programs including BBC World Business Report, NBC Nightly News, CNN Headline News, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), Fox News, CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Radio, and All Things Considered and Market Place on National Public Radio.

Behravesh was the host of the PBS television series "Inside the Global Economy." In addition to his recent book, he has authored numerous articles in such publications as European Affairs and Credit Week, co-authored two books-Economics U$A (now in its 8th edition) and Microcomputers, Corporate Planning and Decision Support Systems-and was a contributing author to a book on scenario analysis, entitled Learning From the Future. His op-ed pieces have also appeared in the Financial Times, Newsweek International, London Times and the Boston Globe.

Before joining IHS, Behravesh was chief economist for Global Insight (now an IHS company). Prior to that, he was chief international economist for Standard & Poor's. He also held a number of other positions, including president and CEO of Oxford Economics U.S.A. and Group Senior Vice President of WEFA. Early in his career Behravesh worked at the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve. He has been covering the global economy for over 35 years.

Behravesh holds PhD and MA degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has lived in Europe and the Middle East and is fluent in several languages. He travels extensively to Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Laurent Ruseckas

Senior Associate, IHS CERA

Laurent Ruseckas is a Senior Associate with IHS CERA, working chiefly with the EMEA/APAC energy team. A leading authority on energy investment and politics in Eurasia, Ruseckas is currently engaged as Principal Consultant to the World Bank and European Commission for the design and implementation of the Caspian Development Corporation, a proposed European gas-purchasing and shipping consortium.

Previously Ruseckas was Director of Business Development for Greenoak Holdings Limited. In this role Ruseckas was responsible for new business and strategy for the company's energy transportation business in Eurasia. From 1992 to 2003 Ruseckas covered the Caspian Sea region for Cambridge Energy Research Associates [now IHS CERA], where he developed and led the firm's Caspian Energy research practice.

A Russian speaker, Ruseckas holds a B.A. with honors in Russian and Soviet Studies from Harvard College, and studied toward a Ph.D. in Political Science at Columbia University. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Open Society Institute's Caspian Revenue Watch program and a Director of Uzbekistan Initiative London.

David Finlayson

Managing Director, Global Business Development Team

David Finlayson is managing director of the Global Business Development team in Consulting Resources at IHS CERA. To this role he brings 37 years of technical, operational and management experience in upstream oil and gas — 22 of which were with major oil companies, followed by 15 years of consulting experience.

Currently, David assists clients in a number of areas including strategic planning, exploration management, new entry strategies, competitive analysis, asset management, business development and international expansion, to name a few. 

Prior to joining IHS in March 2008, he was a director of JFA International, which was acquired by IHS. In that capacity, he was responsible for the development and commercialization of the intellectual property embodied in Global Window, now an IHS flagship product supporting a wide range of internationally diverse clients in upstream new ventures, business development and strategic planning.

Before JFA, Finlayson held various technical, exploration and asset management roles with Texaco, BP (and predecessor companies BNOC and Britoil) while living in the US, Norway, Malaysia, UK and Australia.
David holds a bachelor’s of science degree in physics with honours from the University of Glasgow, and a master’s degree in geophysics from Imperial College of London. He also completed the International Executive Development Program at INSEAD, Paris. He is a lay member of the Governing Council of Brunel University, UK.

Graham Bliss

Senior Manager, Critical Information Business Development

Graham is a ‘global expert’ within the IHS Global Window team. He brings 30 years of oil and gas upstream technical, commercial , operations, and management  experience of which 18 were spent with major upstream companies followed by 12 years of successful consulting experience.

Graham was a Director of JFA International before joining IHS in March 2008 when the company was acquired by IHS. Prior to JFAI, he was Director of IPE Consulting. In his career with major companies, he held various technical, exploration, portfolio management and strategic roles with BNOC, Britoil, Burmah Oil and Chevron.
Graham holds a BSc (Honours) degree in Geology from Imperial College London. He also holds a PhD in Geology from Imperial College.

Leila Benali

Director, IHS CERA

Leila Benali, IHS CERA Director, focuses on the energy policies (oil, gas, and power) of Middle Eastern and African countries. 

Her key areas of expertise include countries’ energy policies and companies’ strategies. Her expertise includes various projects for governments and international companies, advising them on energy strategies. This involves direct discussions and presentations to senior government officials and private sector senior management. For example, as a core member of IHS CERA's contribution to developing a National Economic Strategy in Libya, Mrs. Benali focused on the economics and issues to be addressed at the policy level in the gas and power sectors.

Her recent research included several papers and analyses of the political, economic, and energy situations in most OPEC countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates [UAE], Algeria, and others) as well as Oman,Sudan, and Mauritania. She also focuses on horizontal themes within the region such as gas developments and nuclear power.

Prior to joining IHS CERA, Mrs. Benali conducted field research on the liberalization of the UAE power sector. She also worked on assessments of the political and social climate in Lebanon and Syria and as an industrial engineer at Schlumberger.

Mrs. Benali is a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab Energy Club and a member of the International Association of Energy Economists. She holds an MS Engineering from l’Ecole Mohammadia d’Ingenieurs, Rabat, Morocco; an MS from l’Ecole Centrale Paris; a Master of Political Science and a PhD in Economics from l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. Mrs Benali is also Professor of Energy Strategies and Economics at  l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and at the Paris School of International Affairs.