Monica Hwang counsels clients on energy-related project development matters, including joint ventures and complex commercial transactions. She has extensive experience working on liquefied natural gas import and export projects, handling the structuring for equity lifting; implementing tolling and sales models; and advising on gas supply and marketing arrangements. Among her vast industry experience is serving an integral role in the development of Freeport LNG—at the time, the largest non-recourse project financing in history—as well a consortium of investors into the Dominican Republic LNG import terminal, for which the joint venture won Latin American Finance Project of the Year.

Monica also advises on midstream and downstream project and commercial matters, including gas and crude oil/refined product terminalling.

Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Monica is skilled at helping clients navigate cross-border transactions.

Prior to her legal career, Monica held various managing and contributor roles in upstream production, gas processing and wholesale, and retail energy trading and risk management.

Multiple legal publications have recognized Monica for her work in the oil and gas sector, such as IFLR 1000, who ranks Monica as a Highly Regarded lawyer; The Legal 500 US, who ranks Monica as a Key Lawyer; and Chambers USA, who lists Monica as a “Notable Practitioner” and “Up and Coming” lawyer in its Projects: LNG category.

Ryan Sears focuses his practice on mergers & acquisitions and asset deals. He serves clients as outside general counsel, advising on day-to-day transactions—including oil and gas leases, joint operating agreements, entity structuring, vendor contracts, title and environmental issues, and corporate governance matters.

Ryan has served as Chair of the Energy Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association, and as a member of the Energy Section of the Houston Bar Association and the Energy and Natural Resources Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association. He is also a sought-after speaker and writer on the evolution of both energy law and energy transactions and structuring.

Consistently named one of the best lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine and recognized as a “Rising Star” in Texas Super Lawyers, Ryan is a trusted and respected advisor to independent oil and gas companies—many backed by private equity or family companies—in the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors.

James F. English is a senior counsel, specializing in oil & gas industry commercial transactions, infrastructure projects, and acquisitions. His practice focuses on: international and U.S. upstream oil & gas transactions; international and U.S. natural gas/LNG infrastructure projects & marketing; U.S. Midstream Projects and commercial agreements; and Mediation and regulatory advocacy in the oil & gas industry.

Before joining Clark Hill Strasburger, James worked at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. His responsibilities included deepwater transactions and new ventures in Asia Pacific, Africa, Australasia, Canada, and the Caribbean. While at Anadarko, James also worked extensively with natural gas commercialization and marketing project in West Africa, East Africa, Central Asia, Trinidad, Australia, and New Zealand. James served on the board of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators both an officer and a director and is currently a co-chair for the LNG SPA (long term) model contract drafting committee.

In the U.S., James focuses his practice in the Rockies and the Mid-Continent. As a former law clerk of the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission and title attorney, James is well equipped to manage transactions with large land positions and complicate regulatory implications. His depth of knowledge of midstream and marketing transactions also makes James well suited to handle transactions with assets across the entire value chain.

Robert Tracy is an experienced Lawyer with a demonstrated history of working in the energy and maritime industries. Skilled in M&A, project development, shipping, LNG, and emergency / spill response. Robert is a strong legal professional with real life experience as an US Coast Guard licensed officer aboard ocean going vessels.

Eric Fry most recently served as an Executive in Residence for the Energy Management Program at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business and has over 35 years of experience in the domestic and international upstream oil and gas business. Prior to the UT engagement, he was with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation as a Director – International Negotiations where he led a negotiations group, responsible for all non-U.S. negotiation activities within Anadarko’s international exploration portfolio.

Previous to his experience at Anadarko, Eric was Director of Worldwide Negotiations for Pioneer Natural Resources, responsible for negotiating business development and commercial transactions relating to Pioneer’s international and domestic portfolio, including a three-year stint with Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation as Manager of Business Development. He started with a 12-year career with Phillips Petroleum, working first as a Landman, and later as Senior International Negotiator, and Team Leader for the Unitization of Bahuguna Project in the Zone of Cooperation. He has conducted negotiations and performed business development activities in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Mr. Fry graduated from the University of Texas, graduating with degrees in Finance and Petroleum Land Management. Since joining the AIPN in 1989, he has held many Committee and Officer Positions and was AIPN President 2000-2001. He has been instrumental in initiating and participating in the AIPN Student Outreach Program for the last twenty years.

Hind Farag is an energy industry executive coach and leadership consultant, and the founder of Transform Business Coaching and Consulting. She supports the development of senior leaders, facilitates leadership team alignment, and provides strategy recommendations to help navigate ESG, D&I, data analytics and similar disruptions. Hind also partners with seasoned industry professionals on pivoting their careers and businesses for optimizing potential during a historic transformational juncture.

Hind has a track record in launching, developing and leading successful energy analytics, research, and consulting practice areas. She also has the reputation of developing and empowering industry executives and thought leaders.  And her subject matter expertise in power & renewables and energy transitions equips her to provide highly relevant consulting and coaching services to energy executives during a pivotal phase for the industry.

Most recently, Ms. Farag was the Head of Global Commodity Analytics at Wood Mackenzie, part of Verisk Analytics, a Fortune 500 company. She was responsible for leading a major reorganization effort involving about 200 employees in 20 teams across more than 10 global locations to prepare WoodMac for capitalizing on the opportunities presented by sustainability/energy transitions dynamics. These teams provided fundamental market analytics for the power and renewables, oil, gas, NGLs, and metals and mining sectors.

Prior to that, Hind worked with the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center as the Energy Transitions Program Director. She also worked with CERA (IHS Markit), Ventyx (an ABB company), and Pace Global Energy Services (a Siemens Business). Ms. Farag and her teams provided key energy industry players with market assessments, asset valuations, regulatory compliance analyses, and fundamental supply, demand and price forecasting. Her subject matter expertise spans the areas of energy demand, industry analytics, power and renewables, energy transitions, and commodity markets.

Hind holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration and an MBA, both from the American University in Cairo.

RoseAnne Franco is an expert in risk and sustainability advising companies in energy, chemicals and extractives at various stages of their ESG journey. 

She has a keen understanding of the changing business context vis-a-vis sustainability and is a respected strategic advisor helping corporates navigate dynamic commercial and risk environments. She has extensive experience in developing strategy, valuing assets and evaluating value creation while at Wood Mackenzie. At ERM, she has focused on how companies will respond to sustainability vis-à-vis climate change, with a focus on reporting and climate disclosure (e.g., TCFD). Most recently, she is advising companies on decarbonization and operationalizing their Net Zero journey.

Prior to joining ERM, RoseAnne was head of the Oil & Gas portfolio at leading global data analytics firm, Verisk Maplecroft. She is a regular speaker on trends, such as competitiveness, sustainability & climate change at international fora (e.g., IPIECA) and C-suite events.

She holds a BA in Economics and Government from the University of Texas at Austin and a MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.