EllenAnasJoe

Erik Townsend and Patrick Ceresna welcome Anas Alhajji, Joe McMonigle and Dr. Ellen Wald to the show. Discussed this week:

Dr. Ellen Wald

  • Saudi Arabia's perspective on the oil markets?
  • Perspective about Saudi Aramco
  • Understanding Mohammad bin Salman
  • Social Politics in Saudi Arabia

Anas Alhajji & Joe McMonigle

  • What is driving the oil markets right now?
  • Considerations on the Iranian sanctions
  • Insights into next week’s OPEC meeting
  • Bigger picture geopolitical outlook for the oil markets
  • How to interpret the backwardation on oil?

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Ellen R. Wald

Ellen R. Wald, Ph.D. is a historian, policy expert, and business consultant. She began Transversal Consulting after years of providing independent analysis to industry leaders. She is the author of “Saudi, Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom’s Pursuit of Profit and Power,” a book on the history and strategy of Aramco and Saudi Arabia. She writes weekly columns for investing.comForbes online, and Arab News. She has also provided frequent analysis for Modern Trader magazine, various U.S. daily newspapers, and history and policy journals. A graduate of Princeton University (A.B. history, Near Eastern studies) and Boston University (Ph.D. energy history, foreign policy, Middle East), Dr. Wald has taught international relations, Middle East history, and policy for a decade. She has held academic appointments at the University of Georgia, the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, Boston University, and University of Cambridge.

Dr. Anas F. Alhajji

Dr. Anas F. Alhajji is a highly respected energy economist, researcher, writer and a speaker with more than 900 papers, articles and columns to his credit . He focuses on oil and gas market outlook, energy geopolitics, energy security, and the impact of disruptive technologies on the supply and demand of energy.

Before his recent role as a Managing Partner at Energy Outlook Advisors LLC, he was the former Chief Economist of NGP Energy Capital Management. He led the Firm’s macro-analysis of the oil, natural gas and related markets as well as the overall economic environment. He was responsible for the short-term and long term outlooks for oil, natural gas, NGLs, and LNG markets.

Dr. Alhajji’s articles appeared in numerous countries in more than 10 languages, and his work is cited in over 60 books. He has addressed numerous companies, institutions, and national and international organizations. He also serves on the board of several energy-related publications. He is a contributing editor for the one of the industry’s premier publications: World Oil. He is also the moderator of the industry’s oldest virtual Forum: Oil, Gas, & Energy Law (OGEL)

Prior to joining NGP, Dr. Alhajji taught economics at the University of Oklahoma (1995 to 1997), the Colorado School of Mines (1997 to 2001), and Ohio Northern University (2001 to 2008), where he held the George Patton Chair of Business and Economics. Dr. Alhajji taught courses in economics, energy economics and policy, and energy geopolitics.
Dr. Alhajji was educated in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. He holds M.A. in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oklahoma, with a specialization in energy economics and policy. He received many awards including the Teaching Excellence Award and the Outstanding Mentor Award in addition to many prizes in woodworking.

Joseph McMonigle

Joseph McMonigle is president and co-founder of The Abraham Group LLC, an international strategic consulting firm focused on the energy sector and based in Washington, D.C. 

In addition, Mr. McMonigle is a senior energy analyst at Hedgeye Potomac Research providing research and analysis to mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds regarding the impact of legislation, regulation, policy & geopolitics on energy markets, industries and companies.

Previously, Mr. McMonigle served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Energy, a cabinet department with a $23 billion budget and over 100,000 federal and contractor employees (2001-2005). In this role, he had direct responsibility for the public affairs office, speechwriters, legislative and political activities and was also the chief liaison to the White House. He also provided advice to the Secretary on a broad range of topics including international affairs, budget and legal issues. Mr. McMonigle also served as the American co-chair of the U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Working Group and led DOE’s bilateral activities and engagement with China. 

In addition, Mr. McMonigle is the former Vice Chairman of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, an international organization of oil consuming countries, whose core mission is to work for stable energy markets and respond with joint measures to meet oil supply emergencies.  He also served concurrently as U.S. Representative to the IEA (2003-2005).

Before joining the Bush Administration, Mr. McMonigle was the administrative assistant and general counsel to a United States Senator.  He also served as a communications director and press secretary in various campaigns and in the Senate.  He was elected by his peers to serve two terms as President of the U.S. Senate Press Secretaries Association, a bi-partisan organization of Senate press secretaries and communications directors.

In addition, he is a frequent commentator on CNN, Bloomberg TV, Canada’s Business News Network (BNN), Reuters, Platts, E&E News and other media outlets on topics related to energy markets and Washington policy developments. 

Mr. McMonigle is also an attorney and member of the Energy Bar Association as well as the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia bars. He is also a member of the National Press Club.