Home > 2010 Energy Conference > Session 3
EIA Conference 2010
Session 3: EIA's 2010 Annual Energy Outlook Highlights
Moderator: Paul Holtberg, EIA
Speakers

John Conti, EIA
Tom R. Eizember, Exxon Mobil Corporation
Mary Novak, IHS Global Insight

  
 
  Moderator and Speaker Biographies
Paul Holtberg, EIA

Paul D. Holtberg is Director of the Demand and Integration Division in the Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting at the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  Mr. Holtberg joined EIA in July of 2002. At EIA, he works with three other Divisions to complete the Annual Energy Outlook. Previously, he had been a Senior Policy Analyst with RAND Corporation in Arlington, Virginia and spent almost 20 years with the Gas Research Institute. 

Mr. Holtberg received his B.A. in economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1976, his M.A. in economics from Rutgers University in 1979, and his M.B.A. in finance from George Washington University in 1990.

John Conti, EIA John J. Conti is the Director of the Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting (OIAF) at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).  Mr. Conti was tasked to lead OIAF in 2004 and his duties include managing teams of professionals to produce domestic and international projections of energy markets, to produce estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, to record entities’ efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and to perform analyses of the impact of legislation on energy markets as requested by the Congress or the Executive Branch.  To this effect, OIAF produces the U.S. Annual Energy Outlook, the International Energy Outlook, the Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States, the Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases, and numerous analyses of potential energy legislation requested by the Congress that can be found on EIA’s website.  Mr. Conti has spent nearly 30 years working for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Mr. Conti joined the Senior Executive Service in 2002 when he was asked to lead the International, Economics and Greenhouses Gases Division of EIA.  Prior to that, he has worked in other positions in EIA and the Office of Policy and International Affairs.

Mr. Conti has a M.S. in management and policy sciences and a B.A. in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Tom R. Eizember, Exxon Mobil Corporation

Tom Eizember is the Planning Division Manager of Corporate Strategic Planning for Exxon Mobil Corporation in Dallas, Texas.  The Planning Division directs the internal long-range planning activities of the Corporation’s businesses.

Mr. Eizember joined Exxon in 1976, and he has held numerous refinery operating positions with Exxon, including the position of Technical Division Manager of Exxon's Baton Rouge refinery in the late 1990s when it was the largest refinery in the United States.  Mr. Eizember has held multiple planning positions in Houston and Dallas, Texas and Fairfax, Virginia.  He played a key role in developing three studies by the National Petroleum Council, which is a federal advisory committee to the Department of Energy.  Two were of U.S. petroleum refining, inventories, and product distribution.  The third is the 2007 "Facing the Hard Truths about Energy" report that examined the outlook for U.S. and global oil, natural gas, and total energy to 2030. 

Mr. Eizember is also the Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board to the International Energy Agency in Paris, France. 

Born in Nebraska and raised in western South Dakota, Tom graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.  Tom also holds an M.B.A. from Saint Mary's College in California and professional engineering registrations in California and Louisiana.

Mary Novak, IHS Global Insight

Mary H. Novak is Managing Director of IHS Global Insight’s North American Energy Services.  Under Ms. Novak’s direction, Global Insight provides semi-annual energy publications assessing the outlook for the U.S. energy market and global petroleum markets, and monthly oil, natural gas, and coal market reports. Ms. Novak joined the firm as a senior economist with responsibility for natural gas analysis.  Subsequently, Ms. Novak held the position of Director of the U.S. Energy Service.  As a Principal, Ms. Novak directed analysis in the environmental area, coordinating the many Global Insight Services and models used in this emerging discipline.

In addition to her broad experience in energy market analysis, Ms. Novak is well known for her policy analysis.  She has made significant contributions to the assessment of the economic impacts of major new energy and environmental policy initiatives.  In addition to preparing analyses of the economic impacts of various policies, Ms. Novak has presented the findings to numerous Congressional committees, given presentations at conferences hosted by several government agencies including the EPA, and traveled across the US to participate in meetings with state governors and other elected officials.

In support of client use of the forecasts, Ms. Novak has testified before the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.  Ms. Novak has also testified before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on behalf of the a consortium of gas pipeline companies on the use of the forecasts in rate setting, and written testimony on behalf of several rail companies on the outlook for coal pricing and its implications for rail rates.

Ms. Novak received her B.A. in Economics from The Catholic University of America, and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland.