Agenda

Mr. Jim Hughes has been in the pipeline industry for almost 35 years with two-thirds of that being with pipeline operators and a third with engineering consultants.  He is currently the Senior Director, Integrated Services for Hunt Guillot & Associates, LLC in their Houston, Texas office.  Previously Mr. Hughes held positions at Louisiana Gas Service Company as District Engineer in North Louisiana, Area Engineering Lead for Enterprise Products in their Seminole Pipeline office in Sugar Land,  Mustang Engineering as Operations Manager in Fort Worth, Kinder Morgan as a Senior Project Manager, Midstream Engineering Manager for Chesapeake and Engineering Advisor for Devon Energy, all in Texas. Jim’s extensive pipeline operations and project management experience exposed him to relevant industry codes and standards including, PHMSA (DOT Parts 190-199), Texas Administrative Code, Texas Railroad Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Corps of Engineers (COE), OSHA, ASME, ANSI and NACE.

Global Executive with accountability for growth of multimillion-dollar existing business and new business units. Skilled in operations, sales, business, marketing, and domestic/global management, and managing senior-level technology teams. Experienced in both domestic and international markets and posted in Singapore for 6 Asia country companies, including China, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Malaysia. Worldwide recognition in development and advocacy of climate change and carbon policies, e.g., Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), 45Q CCUS/ EOR policy, etc.

Continuum Capital Principal Mark Bridgers is a consultant to the engineering and construction industry and leads a Global Energy Vertical Market team. He works with global energy firms, pipeline companies, local distribution companies, electric transmission/ distribution utilities and power generators to support the planning, design and constitution of capital assets. As a recognized expert in capital construction and operational challenges, Bridgers was recently honored with membership in the Society of Gas Operators (SOGO).

Dale Anderson brings extensive experience spearheading rapid and sustained growth in the utility construction industry. Prior to joining Miller Pipeline, Anderson held the position of President & COO with the MRM Network of Companies, before his most recent position as Senior Vice President for the Quanta Services Organization. Mr. Anderson now serves as Executive Vice President and is responsible for Miller Pipeline’s Eastern and Great Lakes Operations. He is also involved with strategic planning, training initiatives, high-level customer support and relationship formation, and represents the company through participation in industry-related organizations and events.  Dale is an active member of the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) since 1998 where he was elected to DCA’s board of directors in 2007 and served as the Association’s President in 2016. He currently serves as vice-chair on the DCA Labor Negotiations Committee.

Global Executive with accountability for growth of multimillion-dollar existing business and new business units. Skilled in operations, sales, business, marketing, and domestic/global management, and managing senior-level technology teams. Experienced in both domestic and international markets and posted in Singapore for 6 Asia country companies, including China, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Malaysia. Worldwide recognition in development and advocacy of climate change and carbon policies, e.g., Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), 45Q CCUS/ EOR policy, etc.

Todd Denton is President, Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC.  With 27 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Denton is an expert in liquids pipeline and terminal projects and operations. Phillips 66 Pipeline operates approximately 12,000 miles of liquids pipelines, 55 refined products and crude terminals, and an NGL Fractionator. Prior to assuming his current role with Phillips 66 in May 2012, Denton worked for NuStar Energy where he most recently served as Vice President, Pipeline & Terminal Operations. He is currently a board member of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) and serves as Chair of the American Petroleum Institute (API) and AOPL Pipeline Safety Excellence Steering Committee. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Transportation Technical Advisory Committee, appointed by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in 2009.

EN Engineering is a leading utility services firm providing highly technical professional services to natural gas, electric power, and other critical infrastructure sectors

• Joined EN Engineering in 2016
• Previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Wood Group Mustang, and was responsible for significantly growing the company’s geographic footprint, employee base, and revenues
• Worked as a project engineer and project manager for Chevron USA in Louisiana, Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia and IPC in Malaysia
• Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1983, and in 2008, attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program

Captain David Murk, US Coast Guard (ret.), is the Pipeline Manager at the American Petroleum Institute (API) and is responsible for the oversight of infrastructure policy and technical issues to support and advocate for the safe and reliable transportation of petroleum liquid and natural gas by pipeline. Murk joined API having served twenty-six years in the public sector including twenty-four years with US Coast Guard and two years at US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). In his last three years in the Coast Guard, Murk served as the Senior Maritime Advisor to the Secretary of Transportation. Immediately prior to joining API in 2016, Murk served as the Director of Field Operations in the Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, USDOT where he helped lead over 140 pipeline inspectors in the oversight of federal safety regulations for interstate natural gas and petroleum liquid pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities.

Michael Istre joined the INGAA Foundation in 2017 after more than 20 years of consulting engineering in the pipeline industry.  His project portfolio includes world-class onshore and offshore pipelines for natural gas, oil, refined products, and carbon dioxide in the US, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. Mr. Istre serves as Foundation’s Project Manager where he is responsible for the planning, execution, management and communication of the Foundation’s research program. He also participates in a variety of industry work groups related to natural gas transmission and pipeline construction. Mr. Istre is a professional engineer and received a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas.

Meridith is Vice President, Operations Compliance & Risk Management for Buckeye Partners.   Since March 2020, Meridith has led Buckeye’s COVID-19 Corporate Management Team, a cross-functional team responsible for developing and implementing companywide COVID-19 mitigation efforts to sustain essential and non-essential work processes, employee case management, public health monitoring as well as employee training and communication throughout the pandemic.   Meridith joined Buckeye in 2016, bringing over 20 years of progressive operational and business expertise across all sectors of oil and gas operations within the US and internationally.   In her current role with Buckeye, Meridith continues to lead multiple operational safety and environmental regulatory compliance teams along with leadership oversight for Buckeye’s Safety and Operations Management System implementation and expanding ESG initiatives.

Stuart Saulters serves as APGA’s Vice President of Government Relations.  He joined the trade association in April 2019.  In his current role, Stuart manages APGA’s engagement in legislative and regulatory affairs aiming to advance the goals of public natural gas utilities. He also serves as the staff executive for the Direct Use Task Group, which guides the association’s efforts in messaging and advocating for balanced energy solutions around the US.

Since joining the American Petroleum Institute in 2001, Matthew’s focus has been air emissions across the supply chain of the oil and natural gas industry.  During his career, he has worked to better understand emissions and engaged during the development of numerous state and federal air regulations. He is now the Director of The Environmental Partnership, an industry-led voluntary program whose mission is the continuous improvement of the industry’s environmental performance.

Trey Shaffer is a Senior Partner with ERM based in Houston, Texas, USA.  For 32 years, he has focused on delivering a broad range of environmental consulting and construction solutions to Oil & Gas and Chemical sector clients throughout the world. He has held senior leadership roles in both operations and commercial functions.  He is currently responsible for leading a team of individuals who are focused on delivering a broad suite of environmental, climate and sustainability services to a portfolio of Fortune 500 oil and gas key clients.

Cliff Johnson joined Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) as President in September 2010. He previously served as Director of Public Affairs at NACE International. Mr. Johnson’s legislative career includes positions with Texas State Senator Gregory Luna, US Congresswoman Connie Morella, US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and the Governor of Texas Ann Richards. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, PRCI’s membership has grown to over 75 members across the globe. In 2015, he led the creation of the Technology Development Center– a state-of-the-art pipeline research facility in Houston. In 2019, he developed the Strategic Research Priority (SRP) to enable PRCI members to drive the execution of strategic research efforts. In 2021, he launched the Emerging Fuels Institute, a consortium of industry members driving research to enable the energy transition.

Brian Weeks is the Senior Director, Business Development for Gas Technology Institute (GTI).  GTI is an independent, not-for-profit research and development institute that has been bringing innovative technology to the energy industry for almost 80 years.

Mr. Weeks has authored several papers on hydrogen infrastructure, LNG, and energy storage technologies for GTI’s client organizations.  In his current role, Mr. Weeks manages technology demonstration projects for GTI, including those that address advanced fuel infrastructure systems for hydrogen, natural gas, and hybrid electric vehicles.  He is a sought-after advisor on technical, market, and regulatory issues surrounding the introduction of emerging energy technologies – especially those involving hydrogen.

Mr. Weeks is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he received his engineering degree.  He also has an MBA and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

As Sr. Vice President Business Development, John is responsible for the oversight of EN Engineering’s business development for the United States Natural Gas Utilities. John has nearly 35 years of experience in the energy industry, focused on engineering, operations and business development. He has extensive design and operating experience related to natural gas, electricity, renewable energy, and underground storage of natural gas.

John holds a Petroleum Engineering and Mathematics degree from The University of Wyoming. John is based out of EN Engineering’s Chicago office. He has been married for over 30 years and has three grown children.

Yuri has broad experience in development and acquisition of energy infrastructure assets. In his current role of Senior Director of Business Development, he manages the portfolio of low carbon growth projects and R&D activities of Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), the largest North American gas utility. Prior to his current role he held the position of Director of Commercial Development for Sempra LNG, and previously held the positions of Director of Infrastructure Investments at Sempra Renewables and Director of Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions at Sempra Energy.

Prior to joining Sempra Energy, Yuri held the positions of Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and Vice President at GE Energy Financial Services.

Yuri serves on the board of CALSTART. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a PhD in Environmental Science and Energy Research from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Anthony “Tony” Straquadine, Jr. assumed the role of Executive Director of the INGAA Foundation in September 2018. As executive director, Tony is responsible for managing the Foundation’s technical and economic studies, implementing its strategic plan and overseeing the planning and studies process. He also leads the development and execution of the Foundation’s meetings and workshops.

Tony has worked in the oil and natural gas industry for over 35 years. Prior to joining the Foundation, Tony worked with Alliance Pipeline, most recently as Managing U.S. Officer and Manager, Commercial & Government Affairs. He was responsible for developing and implementing government relations strategies in the U.S. and Canada. Before joining Alliance in 1999, he held variety of operational and senior human resource management positions at Halliburton Company.

In April of 2012, Eben founded Wyman Associates, a government relations firm located in Washington, D.C. Wyman Associates currently represents several national organizations representing contractors, manufacturers and distributors in the natural gas pipeline construction industry, power and communications construction industry, and plastics pipe industry. Issues of interest include federal energy policy, infrastructure investment, broadband deployment and telecommunications policy, tax reform, labor policy, and state damage prevention laws and enforcement practices. Eben also helps manage the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Coalition, a group of some 30 corporations, national and state associations, and public entities working collectively to increase private and public sector investment in water infrastructure markets across America.

Stuart Saulters serves as APGA’s Vice President of Government Relations.  He joined the trade association in April 2019.  In his current role, Stuart manages APGA’s engagement in legislative and regulatory affairs aiming to advance the goals of public natural gas utilities. He also serves as the staff executive for the Direct Use Task Group, which guides the association’s efforts in messaging and advocating for balanced energy solutions around the US.