End of the Storm for Oil Markets?

Javier Blas

Opinion Columnist

Bloomberg L.P.

Javier Blas is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities. Previously, he was the chief energy correspondent at Bloomberg News, and before the commodities editor at the Financial Times. A native of Spain, Blas graduated from the University of Navarra. He’s the co-author of the bestseller “The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources.”

Helima Croft

Managing Director, Head of Global Commodity Strategy and MENA Research Global Research

RBC Capital Markets

Helima is a Managing Director and the Head of Global Commodity Strategy and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Research at RBC Capital Markets. She specializes in geopolitics and energy, leading a team of commodity strategists that cover energy, metals and cross commodity investor activity.

Helima is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a select group of individuals who advise, inform and make recommendations to the Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas. She also is a CNBC contributor, a member of the channel’s exclusive family of experts, is on the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Council, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Helima joined RBC Capital Markets from Barclays, where she was a Managing Director and Head of North American Commodities Research. Prior to that, she worked in Lehman’s Business Intelligence group, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. Helima has received many industry accolades throughout her career and received her PhD in economic history from Princeton in 2001.

Stephanie Flanders

Senior Executive Editor

Bloomberg L.P.

Stephanie Flanders joined Bloomberg in October 2017 as Senior Executive Editor for Economics and head of Bloomberg Economics. In this new post she leads a combined group of more than 100 Bloomberg News economic reporters worldwide and 25 professional research economists. Stephanie came to Bloomberg from J P Morgan Asset Management, where she had been Chief Market Strategist for the UK and Europe since 2013. Stephanie was Economics Editor for the BBC from 2008 to 2013, where her national and global economic analysis was broadcast around the world and widely respected. Prior to joining the BBC, Stephanie was a speechwriter and senior advisor to US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers in the second Clinton Administration, where she was closely involved in the management of emerging market crises and other major economic issues from 1997 to 2001. She has also worked as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and London Business School. She is an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economics. In 2016 she was appointed to Chair the Royal Society of Arts' Inclusive Growth Commission, which delivered its final report in 2017.

Robert McNally

President

Rapidan Energy Group

Robert McNally is Founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, a Washington area-based energy market policy and geopolitical consulting firm. Robert has over 30 years of government and market experience as an international energy consultant, energy advisor to President George W. Bush, and hedge fund strategist. He is the author of the award-winning and acclaimed book Crude Volatility: The History and the Future of Boom-Bust Oil Prices (Columbia University Press, 2017).

Robert has testified before Congress on energy markets and national security and is regularly interviewed by leading media outlets. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Special Assistant to the President on the White House National Economic Council and, in 2003, Senior Director for International Energy on the National Security Council. Robert earned his B.A./B.S. in Political Science and International Relations from American University and his M.A. in International Economics and Foreign Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Saad Rahim

Chief Economist and Global Head of Research

Trafigura

Saad is the Chief Economist and Global Head of Research for Trafigura, a market leader in the global commodities industry. He is responsible for the company’s views on markets and macroeconomics, including the outlook for oil and metals markets, commodity prices, equity and credit markets, and political risk.

Before joining Trafigura he was Chief Economist at BG Group responsible for the Group’s views on oil, gas and LNG markets, advising senior management on markets, macroeconomics and global risk. Prior to this he was Deputy Chief Economist at Chevron Corporation responsible for the corporation's forecasts and analysis on macroeconomics, geopolitics and energy prices. He also focuses on global energy trends, including National Oil Companies, OPEC policy, carbon initiatives and consumer and producer country policies.

Prior to joining Chevron, Saad was an international energy advisor with PFC Energy in Washington, managing their macroeconomic forecasting, country risk services, and geopolitical analysis focused on the Middle East and Asia.

Saad is widely-quoted and published in major media outlets. He holds BA degrees in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, and attended the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies for advanced degree work in International Economics and Global Energy.

Matt Revell

Commodities Market Specialist

Bloomberg L.P.

Matthew Revell is a Commodities Market Specialist at Bloomberg LP, covering the EMEA region. He works extensively with commodity merchants, corporations, national oil companies and integrated energy groups to drive strategies that grow their businesses through the use of technology.

He previously ran the Commodities Sales team for Europe for 2.5 years, following five years managing the strategic relationships with commodities players in Switzerland, Russia and the United Kingdom.