2028 SPE President
Ian Phillips is a senior energy industry leader with more than 4 decades of experience across oil and gas development, energy transition, and technology innovation. His career includes leadership roles with Shell, BP, Marathon Oil, and Halliburton, where he developed extensive expertise in subsurface, wells, subsea, and major project delivery. He has also played a key role in advancing carbon capture and storage initiatives, including serving as project director for the Acorn Project, one of the UK’s first integrated low-carbon hydrogen and CCS developments. He is now an independent energy transition consultant and Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Aberdeen.
He is a founder of Pale Blue Dot Energy (now Storegga) and previously served as chief executive of the Oil and Gas Innovation Center, where he led government-backed programs supporting more than 100 oil and gas industry technology projects. A Chartered Petroleum Engineer and Fellow of the Energy Institute, he is also an SPE Distinguished Member. He has held numerous leadership roles with SPE including North Sea Regional Director and co-chair of the SPE Offshore Europe 2025 Program Committee. A longtime contributor to the profession, he has served in multiple leadership roles within the SPE Aberdeen Section, including twice as section chair, and was selected as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2021.
He holds a BSc in civil engineering from Leeds University, an MSc in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and an MBA from UK Open University.
2027 SPE Directors
Asia Pacific Regional Director
Nopasit Chaiwanakupt is an executive vice president of operations support group at PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd. (PTTEP). In this role, he oversees PTTEP’s drilling and well services, supply chain management, and corporate digital transformation. He also serves as a director of AI and Robotics Venture Company, PTTEP’s wholly owned startup subsidiary focused on expanding AI and robotics technologies to other adjacent industries in Southeast Asia.
He began his career with Unocal Thailand in 1990 as a production engineer and has more than 3 decades of experience across upstream operations and business development in Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Since joining PTT Group in 2009, he has held senior leadership roles at PTT International Company and PTTEP, covering upstream asset management (Thailand offshore and international assets), petroleum business development (Indo-Pacific and Middle East), low-carbon businesses (CCS, hydrogen, and renewables), corporate R&D, venture capital investment, and sustainability.
He holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University and an MBA from Sasin School of Management, Thailand.
Data Science and Engineering Analytics Technical Director
Hitesh Mohan, with more than 33 years of experience in strategic management consulting, specializes in the energy infrastructure and sustainability sectors. Currently, he serves as the managing partner of Cyberworx Energy LLC. He has also held the position of vice president/board member at INTEK Inc., where he played a crucial role in its establishment in 1998.
Mohan has been instrumental in developing national-scale analytical platforms for US federal agencies. These platforms enable agencies to provide real-time risk mitigation and inform national energy policy. His leadership experience spans both the private and public sectors, including directing energy-risk assessments for the National Security Council. He is actively involved in addressing issues related to reliable and ethical AI and cybersecurity/trust in the context of AI.
He serves as a chair of the SPE Asset Management Technical Section, leading its strategic rebranding and refocusing to emphasize the technical aspects of management and involving students in global Energython Molecule to Megabyte events. Since 2025, he has been on the SPE Data Science and Engineering Analytics Advisory Board. He has held multiple leadership roles within the SPE National Capital Section, including section chairperson, director, and program chair. He has also served on various ATCE subcommittees and international and regional award committees.
Mohan is an SPE Distinguished Lecturer and received the 2024 SPE Eastern North America Regional Management Award and the 2009 SPE Eastern North America Regional Service Award.
He holds a BTech in mining machinery from the Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad and an MS in petroleum engineering from The University of Kansas.
Europe Regional Director
Edna Michelle Bisso Bi Mba is the head of reservoir services at the technology and service center of Harbour Energy. She manages a team of specialists, overseeing advanced core analysis, coreflooding, and geoscience projects. Her ability to lead diverse teams and deliver strategic results demonstrates the qualities required to cultivate an environment where different perspectives are welcome and utilized as a competitive advantage.
With more than 12 years of professional experience, she has held various roles, including simulation and operations reservoir engineer. She combines strategic thinking, inclusivity, and passion for the energy profession. She champions diversity and gender equality as global chair of the Gender Balance Network of Harbour Energy, proving ability to influence beyond authority, communicate with clarity, and empower others.
Since joining SPE in 2012, she has held numerous leadership roles at the local, regional, and international levels, including section chairperson, treasurer, young professionals chair, and conference technical and executive committee member. In 2024, she received the SPE Giovanni Paccaloni Young Professional Service Award.
She holds a BS degree in energy and raw materials, an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the Technical University Clausthal, and an MS in reservoir engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie.
Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Director
Lourdes Guiñazú is a manager at Halliburton with more than 25 years of industry experience, specializing in multidisciplinary management across various countries. She also serves as a professor in the petroleum engineering department at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina.
An active member of SPE, she has held leadership roles, including chair of the SPE Patagonia Section, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Chair for the Patagonia Section, D&I Standing Committee Chair, ATCE Management Subcommittee Member and board member of the SPE Asset Management Technical Section. She received the 2021 SPE Latin America and the Caribbean Section Regional Management Award.
She holds petroleum processing engineering and project management degrees from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina), and a diploma in business leadership from IESE Business School (Spain).
North America Regional Director
Michael Davies is vice president of business development at Turing Analytics, a rapidly growing software company based in Calgary, Canada, where he leads sales growth and strategic planning initiatives. With more than 30 years of industry experience, he began his career with Chevron and later worked with several E&P companies as a development engineer on properties across the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
In 2017, he joined Reveal Energy Services, a fracture-diagnostics company, where he played a key role in building and expanding the Canadian and northern US markets.
Davies has been actively involved in SPE for many years. He has served on the organizing committee for the Montney/Duvernay Unconventional Workshop since 2018 and has moderated several technical panels. He also served as chair-elect, chair, and past chair of the SPE Calgary Section. In addition, he volunteers on the board of the SPE Canadian Educational Fund, which provides scholarships to students pursuing careers in the energy industry. Outside of work, he enjoys outdoor activities and being in the mountains.
He holds a BSc in petroleum engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Alberta.
Russia and the Caspian Regional Director
Ali Naghiyev is cofounder and CEO of eiGroup, an R&D and innovation venture studio in Azerbaijan, where he leads the development and scaling of deep-tech and AI-driven solutions for the energy sector. He has more than 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, having worked at BP and SOCAR in roles spanning engineering, performance management, and technology application.
Naghiyev has been an active contributor to SPE since 2012. He previously served as SPE Azerbaijan Section Chair and has remained part of the section’s leadership, helping grow the section, bring SPE International events to Azerbaijan, and support young professionals and students through technical development programs.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering, an MSc in petroleum engineering (downstream), and a PhD, all from Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. He also holds an MSc from Heriot-Watt University in petroleum engineering (upstream).
How SPE Board Members Are Selected
SPE is governed by a board of directors comprising 20 member representatives from around the world, including three officers and 17 representatives of geographic regions and technical disciplines. Officers and directors are elected to a 3-year term, with approximately one-third of the board rolling off each year. Officers and directors include representatives of both geographic and technical constituencies, and three presidents (current, past, and elect).
Nominating a Candidate
The nomination period opened in October 2025 and ended in January 2026. Any SPE member may nominate a candidate for a position on the board. The process involves submitting an online nomination form and supporting documents such as a curriculum vitae, resume, and letters of support.
The Election Process
Candidate nominations submitted online are reviewed by the SPE Nominating Committee. Chaired by the immediate past president, the committee met in early-March to make recommendations for the available positions. These recommendations were submitted to the SPE International Board of Directors for approval at a meeting of the board held in March.
Following Board Approval of Nominees
The Board of Directors reports the nominations in the Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT). SPE members will have the opportunity to review the board-approved nominees’ biographical information in the April issue of JPT and on www.spe.org.
Nominees approved by the board stand as elected unless SPE members nominate additional candidates by petition. The petition process must be completed no later than 45 days following the publication date (1 April) of the slate of Board of Directors’ approved nominees in JPT.
Board of Directors’ nominees for positions for whom no petition with the requisite number of signatures is received within 45 days following the publication date of the slate of nominees in JPT shall be deemed elected to such positions. Additional nominations require a petition from 1.0% of the voting members of SPE on petitions for president-elect, and 2.0%, or a minimum of 150 members, from the represented group for regional director and technical director positions. A ballot election will be held if any qualified petitions are received.
The Board Takes Office
If the board slate is elected, the person nominated as president would take office as president-elect at the close of the 2026 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. This year, the conference will be held 21–23 October in Houston.