Robin established Qamar Energy in 2015 to meet the need for regionally-based Middle East energy insight and project delivery. He is an expert on energy strategy and economics, described by Foreign Policy magazine as “one of the energy world’s great minds”. Prior to this, he led major consulting assignments for the EU in Iraq, and for a variety of international oil companies on Middle East business development, integrated gas and power generation and renewable energy.

Robin worked for a decade for Shell, concentrating on new business development in the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, when he was described as the “Shell expert on Iran”. He subsequently worked for six years with Dubai Holding and the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), where he advanced business development efforts in the Middle East energy sector, including major gas import schemes for Dubai and upstream developments in Iraq, Qatar, Yemen, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Algeria and elsewhere.

He is the author of two books, The Myth of the Oil Crisis, which evaluates global long-term oil supply, and Capturing Carbon, the first comprehensive overview of carbon capture and storage for the non-specialist. He is the columnist on energy and environmental issues at The National newspaper (Abu Dhabi) and comments widely on energy issues in the media, including Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, The Atlantic, CNN, CNBC Arabiya, BBC, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Sky News and others.

Robin also authored a ground-breaking study Sunrise in the Desert: Solar becomes commercially viable in MENA, on solar power competitiveness in the Gulf (with PWC/Emirates Solar Industry Association) as well as Under the Mountains: Kurdish Oil and Regional Politics for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and Risky Routes: Energy Transit in the Middle East. He has been Non-Resident Fellow for Energy at the Brookings Institution. He holds a first-class degree in Geology from the University of Cambridge and speaks Arabic, Farsi, Dutch and Norwegian.

Shire Oak International is part of a highly successful group of British companies that have led the renewable energy surge in the UK by financing, developing and operating projects across the UK and Europe. The group is now developing projects in SE Asia, Africa and in South America. As the Director of Development for the MENA region, Richard is currently focussed on Iraq. He is driving a pipeline of large grid/utility scale, private wire and domestic solar power generation opportunities throughout Iraq and Kurdistan. The financial and carbon savings solar power offers over all other forms of energy production are now significant – where affordability of solar has been an issue in the past, it is now cheaper than all fossil fuels. Previously Richard has been an officer in the British Army and also the CEO of The AMAR Foundation where he led a 1,500 Iraqi team to design, fund and deliver development and humanitarian programmes across Iraq. Richard is determined to make a difference in Iraq by providing affordable, clean power.

A UAE based general trading company with extensive activity in Iraq ranging from Oil & Gas, Hospitality, Logistics, IT, and General Trade. In addition to overseeing the group’s activity, Tarek is presiding over the setup of Zero Flare LLC a would be subsidiary of Inter Group. Zero Flare LLC aims to eliminate the flare gas practice at various oil fields across Iraq through commercially viable and environmentally friendly solutions provided by their technology partners GTUIT from the US and Berg Group from Canada. Zero Flare LLC will provide these proven solutions via modular and mobile units allowing for immediate action to be taken with the minimal cost when compared to traditional methods. Prior to joining Inter Group Tarek has worked with both Deloitte and PwC in Los Angeles and in Dubai respectively. Tarek received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Journalist covering Middle East energy for The National.

Dr Mowaffak Baqer al-Rubaie is a distinguished Iraqi politician and active civil rights campaigner.

He was appointed as a member of the 25 member Iraqi Governing Council by the Coalition Provisional Authority in July 2003. In April 2004, in recognition of his astute understanding of the risks and challenges faced by Iraq, he was appointed as National Security Advisor (NSA) by the Coalition Provisional Authority. He held this post for its full 5-year term until April 2009, when he was appointed as an MP in Iraq’s Council of Representatives (Iraq’s Parliament), a role he held until Parliament’s dissolution in March 2010.

Samya Kullab is a senior correspondent at Iraq Oil Report, covering oil, security and politics in Iraq, working in both Erbil and Baghdad bureaus. She was formerly covering conflict and migration in the Middle East with a focus on Syria. Her work has been published in international outlets including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera, IRIN, The National and the Globe and Mail. She was a reporter and editor for Lebanon’s The Daily Star, where for three years she covered the spillover from the war in Syria, including the refugee crisis, border security and terrorism. She also reports from South Asia. She completed a Trauma Training for Journalists course in 2015.

In 2017, she authored a graphic novel with Firefly Books about her coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis which was shortlisted for the School Library Association’s Information Book Award and translated to several languages. She has provided commentary about Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to media outlets including the BBC, Monocle and The Atlantic.