SPE Offshore Europe 2025 Executive Committee

An energy professional with more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry, Rim Meriem Aissaoui currently holds the position of Executive Account Manager at SLB. Meriem joined SLB in 1997 as a junior field engineer in Tunisia and throughout her career has held positions in engineering, marketing, account management and business development. Meriem has extensive expertise in implementing technology solutions to enable improved commercial performance for all stakeholders. Prior to her current role, Meriem was Transformation Deployment lead.

Gordon Ballard is currently Chairman of OPITO International, the global, not-for-profit, safety and skills body for the energy industry.

He became Schlumberger’s UK Chairman in 2005. He has also served as Chairman of the UK Government’s Oil and Gas Industry Council and was co-Chairman of the industry trade association, Oil & Gas UK and Step Change in Safety. 

A dynamic, forward thinking and enthusiastic leader and team player in communications, she is a former political journalist with more than 20 years' experience working in the media. Currently leading the Comms and External Affairs at the North Sea Transition Authority having made the transition from one of the  Government's busiest press offices at the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

Scott has over 25 years of industry experience including 10 years running operations at a senior level.

Scott is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and a member of the Boards of OEUK and the UK Oil and Gas Chaplaincy Trust.

Sarah Bolson is a Project Engineer working within the Decommissioning Department at CNR International. Sarah has a varied background spanning across geoscience, project management and decommissioning. She is keen to share the excitement that the offshore energy sector brings with the next generation and was the OEUK Early Career Professional of the year 2023. 

Matt is the Energy Transition Director for Spirit Energy, acting as the cluster lead for Spirit's CCS project Morecambe Net Zero (MNZ). An Engineer at heart with a wealth of experience spanning more than 20 years’ in the energy sector. Matt spent time at Kent as Market Director for oil and gas in the UK & Europe and 14 years at Atkins, beginning his career here as a Mechanical Design Engineer and progressing in a number of management roles. His background includes engineering and project development across the major CCUS clusters, energy switching and decarbonisation projects. 

Stephen is the central point of coordination for all communications and external affairs (C&EA) activity for bp’s North Sea business - bringing together issues and reputation management, internal communications, regulatory and government affairs, and social performance into a single plan for the business. He also provides leadership to the C&EA teams supporting the region. Prior to joining bp 10 years ago, Stephen held several journalistic, communications, media, and external relations roles in the public and private sectors.

Myrtle Dawes is Chief Executive Officer of the Net Zero Technology Centre where she leads the development of technology for a net zero energy industry. 

She is a non-executive board member of FirstGroup, a non-executive director on the Aquila European Renewables plc board, an advisory board member for the Association of Black and Minority Engineers and sits on the Technology Leadership Board.

With over thirty-years’ experience Neil was appointed as CEO of Subsea UK in 2011 which transitioned into the GUH in 2021. He led the organisation in discussions with political and industry stakeholders about the future of the industry and the support required to maintain the UK’s world-leading position. His early career started in subsea as a commercial diver and also developed his own business ventures. More laterally he had experience in expanding operations across India, the Middle East, and Brazil.

Dean Henderson has over 27 years experience in the Oil and Gas Industry, with almost 20 of those with TotalEnergies.  Dean is currently the Technical Services Director for TotalEnergies in the UK, and has held a number of both offshore and onshore operational management positions.  

As General Manager HSSE, Astrid is member of the Shell UK Leadership Team, based in Aberdeen. She has a wide range of experience, from frontline operational leadership roles, to driving transformational change and joint venture asset management. She has worked both in Downstream and Upstream businesses and in different countries and cultures.

Offshore Norway International Director Erling Kvadsheim has 40 years experience from many aspects of the petroleum and energy sectors. He started his career as geologist in BP, went on to exploration and resource management with the Norwegian authorities, worked as an exploration strategy consultant, before joining the oil, gas and energy business association now known as Offshore Norway. He has advised several governments in developing countries on oil, gas and energy management, he is active on international arenas dealing with Arctic business development, and he speaks frequently to EU institutions in Brussels about North Sea energy issues​

Davis has over 25 years’ experience in the energy industry and is the CEO of Proserv, a UK headquartered global controls technology company providing best in class technology across the energy sector. Davis first joined the company as its CFO and Executive VP back in 2010 before subsequently taking on the roles of COO and Chief Strategy Officer. Davis is a CIMA qualified accountant with an MBA from Erasmus University. 

Julie has over 20 years industry experience predominately working within Supply Chain. She joined Equinor in 2017 where she is currently Supply Chain Manager, based in Aberdeen.  She has worked towards both oil and gas and renewables and is a champion for local content.

Kirsten holds an honours degree in Chemical Engineering, and an MBA in Energy Management from The University of Aberdeen.  Two decades in engineering and management roles within the oil, gas and geothermal sectors, specialising in well planning, delivery and operations, have furnished Kirsten with a unique understanding of the Geothermal landscape.

Professor Ekaterina Pavlovskaia is the Head of School of Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. She is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE). Ekaterina is currently a Personal Chair in the School of Engineering and became the University’s first female Head of Engineering in 2021. Her expertise is in mathematical modelling and the applications she has been working on include novel resonance enhanced drilling technology, rotordynamics (turbines and engines), and riser mechanics. Ekaterina is an author of more than 180 scientific publications including 70+ refereed journal papers. 

Ian Phillips has over 35 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas and climate change industries. He spent 25 years in mainstream oil and gas roles with oil operating companies (Shell, BP, Marathon and Ramco) and with a major service company (Halliburton). He obtained an M.Eng. in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt University (1983), and an MBA through the Open University (1994).  He is also a Fellow of the UK Energy Institute and is a Chartered Petroleum Engineer.   

Ellis assumed the role of President of Operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Wood in 2022, following three years as Senior Vice President of the company’s upstream business in UK and Europe. In his role, Ellis leads a team of more than 7,000 supporting operations, decarbonisation and asset optimisation across the region. A chartered engineer with more than 20 years of experience, Ellis has held several senior leadership roles within the oil and gas industry, including eight years with Aker Solutions as Operations Manager. Latterly, in his three years with CNOOC International as Senior Project Manager, he supported the subsea development for the largest oil discovery in the UK North Sea of the past two decades. Committed to propelling growth safely and sustainably across EMEA, Ellis is focused on delivering exceptional results through the development and deployment of integrated and smart operations solutions across a broad range of end-markets, including oil, gas, new energies, life sciences, and the circular economy. He is passionate about safety, ensuring people feel engaged and supported in their roles and helping them to progress to achieve their career aspirations at Wood.

Rebecca Vyse, Director of Technical Research at S&P Global Commodity Insights, is a European Upstream specialist, with a particular focus on Norway. In her 19 years with the company, she has managed a team of 25 research specialists, providing technical insights, data and market commentary on the wider European area.

Rebecca holds two degrees in geoscience — a Bachelor of Science (with honors) from the University of Gloucestershire, and a Master of Science from Kingston University, London.  

Ed is the Head of Strategy & Membership at The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP).  He joined IOGP in 2019 and led the Association’s most recent Strategic Review and implementation of the recommendations.  His role includes advising the CEO, coordination of the IOGP Board and formulation of the annual business plan.  He spent much of his earlier career advising upstream operators in strategy and management consultancies, including, most recently, McKinsey & Company.

Steve Wisely has been a senior leader at Subsea7 for over 30 years and in that time gained an extensive understanding of the energy sector. He is currently the Senior Vice President for Subsea & Conventional, supporting the Executive Vice President with operational, strategic and business priorities.  He has held several senior roles at Subsea7 including Executive Vice President Commercial, Executive Vice President Northern Hemisphere and from 2020 until June 2024 was the UK & Global IRM Senior Vice President. Steve also has an active role on the board of several Subsea7 wholly owned entities and incorporated joint ventures.

Fraser Wyness is the Executive and Strategic Adviser at Offshore Energies UK. He is responsible for ensuring the CEO is strategically positioned to deliver initiatives and key projects that inform, engage and champion the offshore energy industry.

Brenda has been with the North Sea Transition Authority since 2015. In a short space of time, the NSTA created a new vision for the UK Continental Shelf by engaging with the ambition to move towards renewable energy sources, incorporating renewables into oil and gas developments and delivering emission reductions.