CVs
Ahmet Türkoğlu
Chairman and CEO, Türkiye Petrolleri A.O.
Ahmet Türkoğlu graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of International Relations in 1996. Türkoglu holds an Executive MBA from the same university.
Türkoğlu held several executive positions at various companies after his graduation. In 2010, he was appointed as Deputy General Manager of Türkiye Petrolleri Petrol Dağıtım A.Ş. (Turkish Petroleum) where he served for 3 years.
From 2013 to 2015, he served as the CEO of Öztürk Group of Companies including companies such as OPET and Regnum Hotels.
Throughout 2016, he served as the General Director and Member of Board of Directors of Turkish Energy Company (TEC) and moreover throughout 2017, he worked as the General Director and Chairman of Board of Directors of Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC).
As by June 20, 2019 Türkoğlu was appointed to his current role, the CEO of Energy Exchange Istanbul (EXIST).
He was elected as board member of EUROPEX (Association of European Energy Exchanges) for two years in 2022.
Türkoğlu simultaneously serves as a member of Board of Directors of TEC (Turkish Energy Company), and the Administrative Board of World Energy Council Turkish National Committee besides his current duties. Furthermore, he is a member of Energy and Natural Gas Sectoral Assembly at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB). Türkoğlu is married with four children, has advanced command of English.
Edmar de Almeida
IAEE President, Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Dr. Edmar de Almeida is professor and researcher at the Institute of Energy in PUC-Rio. Prof. Edmar Almeida is also president-elected at the International Association For Energy Economics - IAEE.
Since 1993, Prof. Almeida teaches in undergraduate and graduate (including MBA) courses focusing largely on the energy sector. He is also active in research and consulting, focusing on the evolution of the oil, gas and electricity industries in Brazil and globally.
His specific research interests include energy economics and regulation and energy transition. Prof. Almeida has advised many government agencies, private and public companies, institutional investors and multilateral organizations on energy sector policy and planning, regulatory issues, market development.
Prof. Almeida graduated in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (1992) and has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Economics (1994) and a PhD in Applied Economics from the Institute of Energy Policy and Economics of the Grenoble University, France (1999). Prof. Almeida is the author or co-author of several books, academic papers and professional articles, and is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences, both in Brazil and abroad.
Elchin Ibadov
Chief Executive Officer, SOCAR Türkiye
Elchin Ibadov is the Chief Executive Officer of SOCAR Türkiye in Istanbul. He started his career at the World Trade Centers Association in Chicago (USA), where he was inspired by the professional approach and positive attitudes of the auditors. In 2003 he joined PwC, a professional services firm engaged in auditing, consulting, cybersecurity, governance, risk management, transformation, and tax services. He established and headed the successful PwC Academy in Azerbaijan that provides specialists with professional training in a range of disciplines important to PwC’s clients and employees in the Caspian region.
In 2014 he joined SOCAR (the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) Türkiye group of companies. SOCAR is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. Before becoming CEO, Elchin enjoyed the daily challenges of being the CFO of a large SOCAR refinery.
Elchin Ibadov is a holder of the Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and also holds a PhD degree in Financial Economics. He is a Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA) and is affiliated with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) as well as the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). He dreams of having the power to change the design of university education to make it more responsive to the needs of the business world, with more ‘hands-on’ and practical experiences.
Gürkan Kumbaroğlu
Vice Rector, Boğaziçi University, President TRAEE
Dr. Kumbaroğlu obtained his PhD in 2001 from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Middle East Technical University (METU). After his doctoral studies, Kumbaroğlu conducted research for two years at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States. He continued his academic career at Boğaziçi University while also serving as a Visiting Professor at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Campinas in Brazil, the Port Harcourt University in Nigeria, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China, the METU Northern Cyprus Campus in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and the George Washington University in the United States.
In 2011, he received Türkiye's first Energy Oscar Award in the category of "Scientific Contribution to Energy Markets." Additionally, in 2012, he was awarded the "Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists" by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Kumbaroğlu served as the President of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) in 2016 and continues to serves as the Leader of Eurasia in IAEE’s Energy Geo-economics Committee. He is the President of the Turkish Association for Energy Economics TRAEE, which represents IAEE in Türkiye.
H.E. Majid A. Al-Moneef, PhD
Chairman of the Board, SAEE
HE Dr. Majid Al-Moneef was the Secretary General of the Supreme Economic Council of Saudi Arabia, Governor of Saudi Arabia in the Board of Governors of OPEC, and its representative its Economic Commission Board. He was the Chairman of the International Advisory Group of the King Abdullah Center for Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), president of the Saudi Economic Association, the Arab Energy Forum, and the Energy Group of the Gulf Cooperation Council. He also was vice-dean and professor of economics at King Saud University, member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, the Board of Directors of Saudi Aramco, and the Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum (ERF)
Taha Melis Arvas
Chief Executive Officer, EPİAŞ
Taha Meli Arvas was born and raised in Syracuse, New York in November of 1980. He completed a double major at Syracuse University, in bioengineering and finance in 2003. He continued his master’s studies at the City University of New York Graduate Center majoring in political science. He went on to obtain an MBA from Özyeğin University in 2013 and later a master’s in financial engineering in 2014. He is currently conducting a PhD in Financial Engineering at Boğaziçi University. Mr Arvas started his professional career starting a management consulting company providing advisory services to clients in business and investment strategies. He later was a financial columnist for various leading national and international media outlets and appeared on-air as a commentator on his areas of expertise. He was also a part of the Istanbul Financial Risk Management Laboratory for many years evaluating risks faced by firms and nations. Appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Capital Markets of Boards of Türkiye in 2020, he aimed to expand access to capital markets for firms, to increase financial literacy among retail investors, and to combat manipulation in capital markets. Arvas also served as an adjunct professor of finance at Özyeğin University in 2020 and Boğaziçi University between 2021 and 2024. He joined the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in July of 2023 acting as a senior policy advisor to Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and as of February 9th of 2024, he was appointed as the General Manager of EPİAŞ.
Vilayet Valiyev
Rector, Azerbaijan Technical University
Dr. Vilayat Valiyev is a recognized leading researcher and expert on energy sector and economy. His career of over thirty years has been marked by academic distinction in teaching and research in the areas of the application of uncertainty/risk analyses to resource extraction, development of optimization programs for oil and gas recovery, economic and technical analysis of rehabilitation projects in the energy sector, and analysis of laws and contractual arrangements intended to facilitate the development of both the upstream energy sector and the domestic utility industry, commercial assignments in the development of financial and management accounting systems for fuel and energy enterprises; economic modelling, forecasting and strategic planning; regional development and enhancing inter-sectoral ties; determination of tax rates; decision-making on investments and innovations.
Dr. Valiyev has been conducting studies on a number of problems in upstream oil & gas sector, such as rational coordination of works in geological-geophysical, exploration and development phases for oil & gas fields and condensate fields; preparation of feasibility studies for development of oil & gas and condensate fields; estimation and projection of oil & gas and condensate reserves and their extraction; development of Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) models for joint development of oil & gas reserves; study of various perspective geological, technical and economic problems and strategic decision-making in oil & gas production, etc.
Along with above-mentioned, Dr. Valiyev has carried out research on expanding financial and investment capacity of enterprises, public-private partnerships, optimal tax rates, regional inequalities, identification of competitive advantages of economic sectors and products, sectoral analysis, constructing social accounts matrix (SAM), computable general equilibrium (CGE) and macro-econometric models, economic forecasting and strategic planning, while developing decision making mechanisms at various levels.