Felipe Alice, Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Felipe Alice’s practice focuses on energy transactions and infrastructure projects relating to energy and corporate issues. Representing diverse clients, his work involves complex contracts, corporate restructurings, project finance, international data privacy issues, and real estate transactions. Additionally, Felipe is part of the cross-practice global workforce team that provides clients with integrated cross-border counseling and strategic planning on issues related to labor, employment, benefits, and immigration. Felipe’s first language is Portuguese, and he is fluent in English and Spanish. He is a co-leader of the firm’s Hispanic/Latino Lawyer Network.
Matthew Blomerth, Commercial Manager - LNG Marketing, ExxonMobil
Matt Blomerth is LNG Marketing commercial manager at ExxonMobil, focusing primarily on LNG sales and offtake in the Americas. Prior to this, he was a commercial advisor in ExxonMobil’s Exploration organization, focusing on the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining ExxonMobil, Matt served as head of Latin America Upstream research at consultancy Wood Mackenzie and also worked for German energy company BASF, based out of the US and Mexico City. He also has US federal government experience, having interned at the White House and worked in the Bush Administration. Matt has a BA in History and an MA in International Relations from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He speaks English and Spanish and has extensive experience across Latin America.
Gabrielle Finger, Principal, Sage Energy Solutions
Gabrielle Finger is Principal for Sage Energy Solutions, a consulting firm supporting commercial negotiations and transactions across the global energy value chain, from traditional oil and gas to low carbon projects.
Gabrielle was most recently the Commercial Manager at Storegga US, working on the Harvest Bend and Coastal Bend CCS projects in the Gulf Coast US, and with Petronas and ADNOC/XRG on the Penyu Basin CCS in Malaysia. Previously, Gabrielle was Senior Commercial Advisor for Chevron New Energies (Houston, TX) working on CCS projects along the US Gulf Coast, focused on the Bayou Bend Project in the Golden Triangle region. Prior to the Chevron-Noble merger, Gabrielle worked as an international commercial advisor at Noble Energy for 10 years, working on various west Africa assets in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, focused on monetizing the Alen gas field through the EG Gas Mega Hub and the Yoyo-Yolanda cross border development. Commercially, Gabrielle has negotiated a wide range of agreements, including farmout agreements, unitization contracts/bilateral treaty, joint operating agreements, condensate/LPG/LNG sales agreements, joint venture agreements, capture and sequestration agreements, and various government granting instruments.
Gabrielle is a graduate of the Emerging Leaders Program at Chevron (2023), has an MBA from the University of Houston, and a BA from Washington University in St Louis. She is fluent in Spanish and knows just enough French to be dangerous.
Gabrielle is the current Vice President of New Energies for AIEN, leading multiple task forces focused on the development of model terms/contracts in CCS, Hydrogen, nuclear, renewable fuels, critical minerals and geothermal.
Vera de Gyarfas, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, NextDecade Corporation
Vera de Gyarfas joined NextDecade Corporation as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in July 2021 and is responsible for all legal and contractual matters affecting NextDecade. De Gyarfas is a skilled corporate attorney with more than 30 years of experience in the areas of energy and natural resources, LNG, general corporate law, contract negotiations, negotiations with host governments, and mergers & acquisitions. Prior to joining NextDecade, de Gyarfas was a partner in Mayer Brown’s Houston office and a member of the Oil & Gas industry group. Previously, she was a partner at King & Spalding and worked with the firm for a total of eight years in the global transactions practice group. De Gyarfas was also a partner at Travieso, Evans, Arria, Rengel & Paz, a large Venezuelan law firm with a strong focus in general corporate, tax, labor, litigation, administrative, regulatory, alternative dispute resolution, and environmental areas. De Gyarfas was recognized as a 2016 Women in Energy Honoree by Texas Lawyer, is ranked in the Legal 500 2019 Power list as an expert in Mexico’s energy sector, and is ranked in Chambers Global 2020 for Energy and Natural Resources as an expert in the US for Venezuela. She was also recommended in Legal 500 Latin America 2018, and listed as a leading practitioner in the International Who’s Who of Oil and Gas Lawyers 2018. De Gyarfas holds a JD from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Venezuela), and a Master of Laws, from University of Houston. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is a frequent author and speaker on energy topics.
Monica Hwang, Partner, White & Case LLP
Monica Hwang counsels clients on energy-related project development matters, including joint ventures and complex commercial transactions. She has extensive experience working on midstream projects, including liquefied natural gas import and export projects and gas and crude oil/refined product terminalling.
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. She uses her working industry knowledge to craft innovative solutions.
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 "Band 3" in its Projects: LNG category.
Patrick Johnson, Partner, White & Case LLP
Patrick Johnson is a partner in White & Case's Global Project Development and Finance Practice and Global Energy Industry Group based in Houston. His practice focuses on advising clients in transactions that involve carbon capture, sequestration, and utilization projects; clean fuels projects; offshore and onshore wind generation facilities; merchant fossil-fuel electric generation facilities; upstream oil and gas projects; pipelines and other midstream facilities; and downstream facilities. He represents energy industry companies, private equity investors, alternative lenders, and financial institutions in transactions that include acquisitions and divestitures of assets and companies, joint venture arrangements, structured credit, project development, and project finance.
From 2015 to 2017, Patrick worked as in-house counsel to ExxonMobil. In that role, he worked on upstream, midstream, and infrastructure projects under development in jurisdictions across the globe, with such projects including ExxonMobil's deepwater oil production project offshore Guyana and deepwater natural gas project in the Black Sea offshore Romania.
Julie Mayo, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Sempra Infrastructure
Julie Mayo is senior vice president and chief legal officer of Sempra Infrastructure. She is responsible for legal matters on behalf of Sempra Infrastructure, including compliance, risk, regulatory and corporate governance matters. Prior to joining Sempra Infrastructure, Mayo was a partner at a large international law firm. During her nearly 20 years in private practice, she served as a trusted legal advisor on some of the most significant energy transactions and projects around the world, with a specific focus on the LNG, oil and gas and electric power sectors. Mayo joined the Sempra family of companies in 2024.
Elizabeth L. McGinley, Partner, Bracewell LLP
Elizabeth McGinley, chair of Bracewell's tax department and chair of the firm's energy transition practice, regularly advises clients on tax issues in connection with the energy transition including federal tax credits and investment structures. Liz regularly works with clients evaluating carbon capture, utilization and storage. Liz is recognized by Chambers USA among America's leading lawyers for tax (2012-2024). From Chambers USA: "Elizabeth is always timely and prompt with her responses. She's very knowledgeable and stays current on tax issues." (2023).
In addition to her traditional energy practice, Liz also advises on acquisitions, dispositions, restructurings, joint ventures and debt and equity investments in the upstream and midstream oil and gas and conventional and renewable power industries. She represents both public and private energy companies as well as private equity funds.
Liz is an active member of AIEN, an independent not-for-profit professional membership association that supports international energy negotiators worldwide. She has co-chaired AIEN regional conferences in Houston and New York and has also served as a featured speaker at AIEN events.
Darren Murphy, Partner – Corporate, Finance and Investments, King & Spalding LLP
Darren Murphy acts on major energy transactions across Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe and Africa. His almost 30 years of experience spans upstream and downstream oil and gas, LNG, pipelines, chemicals, mining and power as well as energy transition including renewables, battery storage, hydrogen, geothermal, waste-to-energy, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and decommissioning. He has acted on many landmark mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals, joint ventures, long term offtake arrangements and development projects.
Darren has received extensive recognition in Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, and Best Lawyers in the areas of energy/projects and corporate/M&A, and has been ranked at different times in Singapore, Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia. He was named the 2024 "Lawyer of the Year" Oil and Gas Law (Melbourne) by Best Lawyers.
Darren has lived and worked in the United States, Singapore, and Australia, including working in-house for a NYSE-listed energy company in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the Australia-Pacific Chapter Regional Director for the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) and previously served as co-chair of the Energy Committee of AmCham Singapore and on the Singapore AIEN Committee. He is a regular speaker and commentator on energy industry issues.
Lauren Read, Senior Vice President - dCarbon Ventures, BKV Corporation
Lauren Read is the Senior Vice President of dCarbon Ventures at BKV Corp, where she leads the company’s Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) initiatives in support of BKV’s Net Zero goals. With more than 16 years of technical E&P and CCUS engineering leadership, she brings a strong track record of delivering complex, multidisciplinary energy projects across natural gas, electricity, ethanol, ammonia and related industries. Lauren is known for her creative, data driven approach to project design, commercialization and execution, consistently achieving operational excellence with zero lost time safety incidents. Prior to joining BKV, she spent a decade at ExxonMobil directing reservoir appraisal, development and operations across multiple U.S. basins. She holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Utah, graduating cum laude, and was recognized in 2025 as a Hart Influential Women in Energy Honoree.
Harry W. Sullivan, Jr., Assistant General Counsel, Kosmos Energy & Executive Professor, Texas A&M School of Law
Harry Sullivan is an International Energy Attorney based in Dallas, Texas, where he is an Executive Professor at Texas A&M School of Law and an Adjunct Professor at SMU’s Dedman School of Law. He also is an Assistant General Counsel for Kosmos Energy in their West Africa exploration activities. His previous experience includes fourteen years as Senior Counsel-International in the International E&P Legal Group of ConocoPhillips, Of Counsel with Thompson & Knight LLP, fifteen years as Chief Counsel-International and Senior Counsel for Atlantic Richfield Company and five years as Senior Counsel for Sun Oil Company. Mr. Sullivan has a J.D. degree from Louisiana State University School of Law and an LL.M. degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in the states of Louisiana and Texas and before the Supreme Court of the United States, and he is Board Certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law in Texas. He is also admitted as a Solicitor in England and Wales. His practice and experience focus on the upstream and midstream oil and gas industry, both in the U.S.A. and internationally.
David H. Sweeney, Partner, Clifford Chance LLP
David H. Sweeney is a partner in Clifford Chance’s Houston office and is head of the oil and gas group. He advises clients on a broad range of oil and gas, coal, and other natural resource, infrastructure, service, and corporate transactions. His engagements include more than US$100 billion of transaction value, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity finance and capital deployment, operational matters, and financial restructurings, spanning the entire natural resource value chain in over 30 countries.
David is a frequent author and speaker on oil and gas topics and has written a comprehensive book on world-wide joint operating agreements and another on worldwide farmout, participation, and similar agreements. He is the past chair of the Institute for Energy Law’s Young Energy Professionals group and the Association for International Energy Negotiators’ Young Negotiators Group and has served on the Executive committee of the Institute for Energy Law.
Olivia Woodruff, Vice President - Decarbonization, Kimmeridge
Olivia Woodruff is the Vice President of Decarbonization at Kimmeridge supporting the investment team and facilitating the implementation of carbon solutions across the portfolio. Ms. Woodruff has over 13 years of experience across the energy and environmental sectors in both technical and investment functions. Prior to joining Kimmeridge, Ms. Woodruff served as a geoscientist at Pioneer Natural Resources focused on business development & new ventures, M&A, asset planning, and active operations. In addition, Ms. Woodruff was a physical scientist at the US Geological Survey within a geochemical research team.