Conference Speakers
2026
September 16-18
Guest Speakers
2026
We’re thrilled to share our diverse line-up of speakers from some of the best known brands in our industry. Some you may know. Others you’ll be discovering for the first time here.
Adam Waterous
SPEAKER
Prior to founding Waterous Energy Fund in January, 2017, Adam served as Global Head of Investment Banking and Head of Energy and Power, North America at Scotiabank, where he was responsible for all of Scotiabank’s global Equity and Advisory activities and Scotia Waterous.
Under Adam’s leadership from 2005 to 2016, Scotia Waterous was among the most active advisors in the oil and gas acquisition and divestiture market with transactions roughly evenly split between Canada, the United States and other countries.
Adam co-founded Waterous & Co., a predecessor firm to Scotia Waterous, in September 1991 where he was a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and the head of the firm. Scotia Capital acquired Waterous & Co. in 2005.
Before co-founding Waterous & Co., Adam worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions department with First Boston Corporation in New York and in management consulting with McKinsey & Company in Toronto.
Adam holds an Honours Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario and a MBA from Harvard Business School. Being in the top five percent of his class at Harvard, he was designated a Baker Scholar.
Paul Chapman
Speaker
Paul Chapman is Managing Partner and Co-Head of HC Group, a global search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector. Paul is also the host of the chart-topping “The HC Commodities Podcast”. This weekly show brings experts from around the world to discuss the latest trends and topics from across the commodities world. Paul is also Executive Director at Enco Inisghts, a senior advisor network for the energy & natural resources sector. Paul joined HC in 2004 in the London Office. In 2007 he launched HC’s Americas offering, basing himself in Houston – where he lives with his family. He holds an MBA from Rice University’s Jones Business School.
Emily Kyne
Speaker
Emily Kyne joined ARM Energy in June 2015 and currently serves as Vice President of Commodity Strategy and Trade Analytics. In this role, she directs risk-taking strategy across ARM’s crude desks and evaluates corporate development opportunities within ARM’s Trading and Midstream verticals, aligning them with the firm’s evolving regional fundamentals and trading views. Her corporate development mandate focuses on leveraging and extending the commercial connectivity between ARM’s trading units and its asset footprint, enhancing ARM’s ability to capture regional volatility and tail-risk opportunities.
Over the course of her tenure at ARM, she has led the firm’s analytics group, guided the development of market outlooks for crude oil, natural gas, and power, and shaped the commercial and risk management strategy across multiple business units. Ms. Kyne regularly provides market insight and strategic direction to executive teams, corporate boards, producer marketing groups, and private equity sponsors in both the United States and Canada.
Earlier in her career, she held key roles within risk management and portfolio strategy, advising on commodity hedging, options, and futures. She remains actively involved in talent development through ARM’s sponsorship of the Texas A&M Trading, Risk, and Investments Program at Mays Business School, where she supports emerging leaders in market analytics and trading.
With two decades of experience in crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and power, Ms. Kyne has comprehensive expertise across physical and financial energy markets. Prior to joining ARM Energy, she held roles at Apache Canada, Nexen Marketing, and Connacher Oil and Gas. She holds an MBA with a Specialism in Finance from Edinburgh Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Calgary.
Eddie Fishman
Speaker
Edward Fishman is one of the world’s leading authorities on economic statecraft. He is Senior Fellow and Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He also advises companies on geopolitical strategy and invests in early-stage technology startups.
Fishman is the New York Times–bestselling author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, which has been hailed as “masterful” by the Financial Times, “a timely, riveting world tour” by The Economist, and “a compelling and dramatic narrative about the new shape of geopolitics” by the Wall Street Journal. Chokepoints was named a best book of 2025 by The Economist, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and NPR and was a finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.
Between 2011 and 2017, Fishman served in key foreign policy roles across the U.S. government. At the State Department, he served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, where he advised Secretary John Kerry on Europe and Eurasia and led the staff’s work on economic sanctions, long-range strategic planning, and international order and norms. Fishman was also the Russia and Europe Lead in the State Department’s Office of Economic Sanctions Policy and Implementation, where he played a central role in designing and negotiating international sanctions in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Earlier, Fishman was a member of the Iran sanctions team, where he developed policies to strengthen sanctions against Iran and maintain pressure during the negotiations that led to the Iran nuclear deal. Outside of the State Department, Fishman has served at the Pentagon as special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Treasury Department as special assistant to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and at Foreign Affairs as a member of the editorial staff. Fishman is a recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award (twice) and its Meritorious Honor Award, having been recognized for his contributions to U.S. policy toward Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Iran.
Fishman’s analysis is regularly featured by outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, and NPR, and he frequently writes for publications such as Foreign Affairs and Politico. He holds a B.A. in History from Yale, an M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge, and an M.B.A. from Stanford. He lives with his wife and two children in New York City.
Rick Mercer
SPEAKER
Rick Mercer chronicles, satirizes, and ultimately celebrates all that is great and irreverent about this country. A national #1 bestselling author and the Governor General’s Award-winner for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Mercer is our most popular comic: a political satirist who knows exactly what matters to regular Canadians and what makes them laugh. The beloved comic won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for his memoir Talking to Canadians, in which he charts his meteoric rise to TV fame in a series of riveting, hilarious, and unforgettable anecdotes and behind-the-scenes revelations from his decades-long career. In his new memoir, The Road Years, he continues the story and reminds us, with trademark humor and charisma, how much there is to love about Canada.
Past Guests
2025
We’re thrilled to share our diverse line-up of speakers from some of the best known brands in our industry. Some you may know. Others you’ll be discovering for the first time here.
The Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper, P.C., C.C., A.O.E
Fireside Chat
For nearly a decade The Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper led Canada through the world’s most complex geopolitical, economic and security challenges as the country’s 22nd Prime Minister. He created the modern Conservative Party of Canada, won three successive national elections, and was the longest serving Conservative Prime Minister since Canada’s founding Prime Minister in 1891.
Since leaving office in 2016, Mr. Harper founded and is Chairman and CEO of Harper & Associates, a global consulting and strategic advisory business, and is Chairman and a founding partner of Vision One, a fundamental value-oriented investment fund based in Miami, Florida.
He serves as Board Chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), Director of Colliers International Group Inc., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., and Recover Inc., and is President of the Advisory Committee of Awz Ventures, a technology focused Canadian-Israeli venture capital firm. Mr. Harper is also the author of “Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption” and a frequent speaker on geopolitical trends, populism, and business.
Mr. Harper serves as Chairman of the International Democracy Union and is a member of the Global Advisory Board of India’s Observer Research Foundation. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Calgary, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Tel Aviv University and received an honorary degree from the Jerusalem College of Technology. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada, a member of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, and is the recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence plus numerous international recognitions including the Order of Liberty, Ukraine’s highest civilian honour.
Mr. Harper resides in Alberta, Canada with his wife Laureen; they have two adult children, Benjamin and Rachel.
Andrew Judson
Moderator to The Right Honorable Stephen Harper
Andrew Judson has over 30 years of experience in the Canadian Oil and Gas sector, across investment banking, institutional sales, private equity and most recently, a Director on various oil and gas production companies, oil-related technology companies and non-profits. He has strong connections in the Calgary community, both professionally and personally.
In the private sector, Andrew is currently a Director of Condor Energies Inc. (a public Canadian company operating in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), Pieridae Energy (operates natural gas production in the Alberta Foothills), Crown LNG (a public company advancing LNG Receipt Terminal projects in Kakanada, India and Grangemouth, Scotland), Drift Resource Technologies Inc. (a private Canadian oilsands development company), and Field Safe Solutions (a private company providing SaaS safety and compliance solutions). Andrew also serves as a Senior Advisor for Fort Capital Advisors, a boutique investment bank with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary. Andrew was previously a Director of Bonavista Energy Corporation, and had Managing Director roles at Camcor Partners Inc. and FirstEnergy Capital.
In the not-for-profit sector, Andrew is currently Chairman of Winsport, Vice Chairman (Prairies) of The Fraser Institute and serves on the Board of the Calgary Police Youth Foundation.
Michael Cohen
Speaker
Michael Cohen is Chief Economist, Americas and Head of Oil and Gas in bp’s Economic and Energy Insights group. In this role, he is responsible for short, medium, and long term oil and gas market and industry analysis that informs bp’s Leadership Team and the bp Energy Outlook.
Prior to joining bp in May 2019, Mr. Cohen was Barclays’ Global Head of Commodities Research. He also worked for a decade in the public sector as an Economist with the US Department of Energy, and as a senior member of the Oil Markets Division at the IEA. He started his career in electricity markets at American Electric Power, LECG, and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
He serves on the boards of the Sloan Foundation and Our Energy Policy and is a non-resident fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. He frequently lectures on energy, oil markets, and geopolitics at several universities
Mr. Cohen graduated Phi Beta Kappa with dual undergraduate degrees in Business and Political Science from The Ohio State University and a Masters in International Economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is fluent in Russian and French.Chief Economist, Americas and Head of Oil and Gas
Randy Ollenberger
Speaker
Randy Ollenberger has led BMO Capital Markets’ oil and gas research group since 2002, providing research coverage of the Canadian Integrateds and large cap Oil & Gas producers. Randy has been a top ranked analyst since 2001, including being the number one ranked analyst for Oil & Gas – Large Cap in Canada for 13 of the last 16 years. He has been an equity analyst since 1996.
Prior to joining the brokerage business in 1996, Randy worked in the oil and gas industry in Calgary for nine years with PanCanadian Petroleum, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC), and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). He has testified as a policy and expert witness before the National Energy Board (NEB), Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEUB), and U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Randy is frequently quoted in the media and has numerous appearances on BNN, CNBC, CNN, CTV and CBC. Mr. Ollenberger holds a BA in Economics and an MA in Economics from the University of Saskatchewan.
Paul Chapman
Moderator to Randy Ollenberger
Paul Chapman is Managing Partner and Co-Head of HC Group, a global search firm dedicated to the energy & commodities sector. Paul is also the host of the chart-topping “The HC Commodities Podcast”. This weekly show brings experts from around the world to discuss the latest trends and topics from across the commodities world. Paul is also Executive Director at Enco Inisghts, a senior advisor network for the energy & natural resources sector. Paul joined HC in 2004 in the London Office. In 2007 he launched HC’s Americas offering, basing himself in Houston – where he lives with his family. He holds an MBA from Rice University’s Jones Business School.
Tom Reed
Speaker
Tom Reed is a long time China-watcher, and one of the world’s leading experts on the Chinese oil market. He began his career at the BBC and Economist Intelligence Unit before joining Argus in 2003. For the last decade, Tom has been running Argus’ China service — overseeing analysis of one of the world’s largest and most opaque markets and designing price assessments, including the first physical crude price assessments for China. Tom is a regular commentator on oil markets.
Major-General Darcy Molstad
Speaker
Major-General Darcy Molstad joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1996 and quickly became a highly qualified CF18 pilot and Fighter Weapons (Top Gun) Instructor. After 20 years of flying and leading at the tactical level with operational deployments to Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, he has spent the last ten years as an institutional leader, playing a pivotal role in shaping defence strategies and overseeing multi-billion-dollar capital projects. He is currently the Chief of Force Development, responsible for designing the capability roadmap for the future force and articulating concepts that inform policy and Canada’s national defence strategies. He holds a master’s degree in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada and a master’s degree in Strategic Studies (with distinction) from the Air University in the United States.
Before joining the CAF, he competed in pole vaulting at the national level and earned two junior national titles. He is married to an exceptional health professional and is the proud father to two extraordinary adult children. In his spare time, he is the Honourary Coach of the Montréal Alouette Football Club, the CAF Triathlon Patron, and welcomes opportunities to engage audiences on leadership, team building, winning culture, national security, strategy development, geopolitics, and risk management. His unique perspectives are based on nearly three decades of service at the most senior levels of the CAF. As a proud Albertan, he is thrilled to have the opportunity to speak at this prestigious conference at such a critical moment in Canada’s history.
Emily Kyne
Speaker
Emily Kyne joined ARM Energy in June 2015 and currently serves as the Vice President of Commodity Strategy and Trade Analytics for ARM Energy Trading. She leads fundamental and quantitative analysis across ARM’s business units in Canada, the US, and Mexico.
In her role, Ms. Kyne delivers actionable market intelligence to ARM’s asset optimization and merchant trading desks while providing strategic guidance to the company’s physical marketing clients. She has presented on regional supply and demand dynamics and fund flows to producer boards, executive teams, marketing groups, and private equity sponsors in the US and Canada.
Beyond her commercial responsibilities, Ms. Kyne contributes to the efforts of ARM’s Executive team, collaborates with Tokyo Gas, ARM Energy Trading’s minority equity partner, and mentors emerging talent through the company’s internship and new graduate programs. Previously, as Senior Portfolio Manager at ARM, she advised risk management teams about commodity hedging and options and futures markets.
With 20 years of experience in financial and physical energy marketing, Ms. Kyne has worked across crude, NGL, natural gas, and power markets. Before joining ARM, she held positions at Apache Canada, Nexen Marketing, and Connacher Oil and Gas. She holds an MBA with a Specialism in Finance from Edinburgh Business School and an undergraduate degree from the University of Calgary.
Simon Ross
Speaker
Simon Ross is the Director of the Indigenous Leadership program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and is a member of Nlaka’pamux (Thompson First Nation) from the interior of British Columbia. His family names are Jumbo/Issac and Sam. Simon was affected by the Sixties Scoop – a period in Canadian history during which thousands of First Nations, Métis and Inuit infants and children were forcibly removed from their families by child welfare services.
Simon has over 20 years of leadership experience across diverse sectors, including post-secondary education, health care, tourism, real estate, and the non-profit sector. He has served as a leader, manager, educator, mentor, and consultant, working with and for Indigenous nations and organizations.