Kelly Ripley is the Exploration Commercial Manager - Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with Shell Exploration and Production Company. In this role, she is responsible for opportunity identification, negotiation and implementation of value accretive deals and significant commercial decisions to support Shell's exploration strategy in the Deep Water. She has oversight for integrated stakeholder management and fosters strong business relationships to create business opportunities in the GOM.
Kelly began her career with ExxonMobil where she worked in the upstream international federal tax and severance tax departments and the tax law appeals and litigation group after completing law school. In 2008, Ms. Ripley joined Shell Oil Company and has held various positions in diverse locations across the value chain in upstream, midstream and Chemicals, including upstream commercial advisor for Alaska, onshore and offshore South America, Chemicals Commercial Manager for the Americas, and Business Opportunity Manager for the Americas. Prior to rejoining Deep Water in 2020 as the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Trading Commercial Manager, Kelly was the Asset Commercial Manager for Shell Iraq and Senior Shareholder Representative of Basrah Gas Company (BGC) where she supported maximizing license value through a range of opportunities (upstream gas supply, liquids processing and extraction, LNG domestic supply and exports to regional and global markets and potential petrochemical opportunities).
Her career highlights include working with multi-discipline and ad hoc teams from Shell internal businesses to grow, and subsequently dilute, the unconventional and offshore portfolios in South America, leading fiscal and regulatory negotiations for deep water operations in Colombia, maximizing the Aromatics commercial margin for the Deer Park petrochemicals plant, performing stakeholder value proposition analysis in Alaska, negotiating with the Iraqi government to resolve long term joint venture disputes, and managing flow assurance and supply chain events during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kelly is involved in the oil and gas community as a member of AIPN since 2009, currently serving on the US Regional Committee, Model Contracts Review Committee, and the Joint Operating Agreement Drafting Committee. Formerly, she was a board member and Regional Director of the Middle East/North Africa region. She also represents Shell on the Outer Continental Shelf Advisory Board (OCSAB) and International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC).
Ms. Ripley completed a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish in 2001, Master of Science in Accountancy in 2002 from the University of Houston and a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law in 2007. She is a former certified public accountant and licensed attorney in the State of Texas. Kelly is currently pursuing a Master of Law in Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law. Kelly is married to Klaus Gerber, a managing director in the restructuring practice of Alvarez and Marsal, and they welcomed their daughter, Adelaide, in August 2020.
Pablo Prudencio is a senior research analyst with our US Lower 48 supply team, focused on oil and gas production forecasting. He was previously part of our Key Plays team, responsible for authoring upstream-focused reports about the main tight oil plays within the Permian and Williston basins.
Pablo initially joined Wood Mackenzie in 2017, and brings years of experience working as a reservoir engineer for US-based oil and gas operators.
Andrew Olmem is a partner in Mayer Brown's Washington DC office and a member of the Public Policy, Regulatory & Political Law practice. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, he served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the US National Economic Council (NEC) where he oversaw the development and coordination of all domestic economic policies, including for financial services, technology, telecom, energy and infrastructure.
During his tenure in the White House, Andrew played a key role in the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, landmark legislation to address the economic downturn due to the coronavirus, and leading the administration’s regulatory reform initiatives. His work coordinating economic policy has been publicly praised by the leadership of US financial regulators.
Andrew joined the NEC in 2017, where he worked for then-NEC Director Gary Cohn and current Director Larry Kudlow. He previously served as the Special Assistant to the President for Financial Policy at the NEC, where he devised and coordinated the administration’s policies on financial services, housing finance and fintech. He led the administration’s successful efforts to pass the Economic Growth, Regulatory Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the most significant financial services legislation in a decade. He also developed the administration’s housing finance reform initiative to end the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Before joining the White House, Andrew was a financial services partner in private practice. He previously served as the Republican Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director for the US Senate Banking Committee under former Senate Banking Committee Chair and current Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Richard C. Shelby (R-AL). During his more than seven-years at the Banking Committee, he helped craft a wide-range of financial services legislation, conducted prominent congressional investigations and participated in the consideration of legislation in response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. As a leading staff negotiator, he played a significant role in the deliberations on the Dodd-Frank Act, the most important financial services regulatory legislation since the New Deal. Andrew began his legal career practicing corporate and securities law at Mayer Brown in its New York office. Before attending law school, he served as an assistant economist for monetary policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Vera de Gyarfas is a Partner in Mayer Brown's Houston office and a member of the Oil & Gas industry group. She focuses her practice on transactions involving energy projects in Latin America and Africa. Vera represents companies engaged in all kinds of energy projects, handling negotiations of host government agreements as well as commercial agreements among companies in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Vera represents companies in upstream exploration and production, liquefied natural gas and other natural gas projects under all types of host government agreements, including production sharing agreements, concessions/licenses, and operating services agreements. She also advises companies with respect to power projects, generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and advises petrochemical companies in developing specialized plants.
Vera has particular experience in LNG and negotiates and drafts investment agreements for host governments and other parties, analyzes existing regulations and government negotiations, and completes agreements for LNG sales and purchases, gas supply, and terminal usage, among others.
Vera was recognized as a 2016 Women in Energy Honoree by Texas Lawyer, she is ranked in the Legal 500 2018 Powerlist as an expert in Mexico's energy sector and is ranked in Chambers Global 2018 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.