Steve Harvey joined EIA in February 2008 as the Director of the Office of Oil and Gas. Mr. Harvey came from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where, as the Director of the Division of Energy Market Oversight, he and his staff were responsible for monitoring activity in natural gas and electric markets. Prior to his government service, he was Vice President of Operations for energy deregulation technology startup ExoLink Corporation. In the late 1990s, Mr. Harvey was Vice President of Corporate Planning for the Columbia Energy Group, and later Senior Vice President of Columbia Energy Services. In the mid-1990s, he served as president of NJR Energy, a utility subsidiary engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and investments in gas transmission and storage. Mr. Harvey also worked for Enron Corp and the Interstate Natural Gas Association. He received his B. S. in Physics and Political Science from Guilford College and his Masters in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, with an emphasis on energy and regulatory policy

Brian Jeffries is the Executive Director of the Wyoming Pipeline Authority (WPA). The WPA is tasked by the State of Wyoming with the analysis, encouragement, development and financing of infrastructure that would support the production and delivery of Wyoming’s natural gas, crude oil and related products to high value markets. Prior to joining the WPA, Mr. Jeffries was the Vice President of Marketing for Western Gas Resources, Inc. a Denver based production, gathering, processing and marketing company. Mr. Jeffries has presented on behalf of the energy industry in numerous state and federal regulatory proceedings, university sponsored educational forums and to members of congress. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado.

James Simpson is Vice President, Analytics and Managing Director of BENTEK Energy, LLC, the leader in energy analytics. Mr. Simpson is responsible for managing a team of highly-experienced energy experts focused on the synthesis, analysis and reporting of market developments in the energy industry, including flows, capacity, infrastructure, economics, transportation costs and price impacts. Prior to joining BENTEK in 2004, Simpson worked for Markwest where he managed the financial and physical risk for natural gas and related products. Simpson also spent two years at Xcel Energy managing risk in the Midcontinent region. Simpson started his career at Enron which included structuring large transactions for both power and gas for Enron North America, as well as trading upper Midcontinent markets. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Texas A&M University in 1996.

Rick Smead is a Director with Navigant Consulting Inc., focused on the wholesale natural gas business. His experience includes five years in consulting, following 34 years in the industry 10 with Washington Gas Light and 24 with major gas pipeline companies including Tenneco, Colorado Interstate Gas, ANR Pipeline, and the El Paso Pipeline Group, primarily in senior management and regulatory positions. As a consultant, Mr. Smead co-authored and managed the American Clean Skies Foundation’s North American Natural Gas Supply Assessment in 2008, and has consulted extensively to the LNG industry for developers and exporting countries, in addition to multiple engagements involving strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and expert testimony throughout the natural gas industry. In the industry, he was a key player and leader in the restructuring of the natural gas industry under FERC Order 636. He writes and teaches extensively, and serves on the Boards of the North American Energy Standards Board, the Foundation of the Energy Law Journal, and the Houston Chapter of the Energy Bar Association. He received his B.A. in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland and a law degree from George Washington University.

John Strom co-founded Haddington Ventures, a Houston-based private equity fund manager, focused on midstream energy and related energy infrastructure. Previously he served as President of TPC Corporation, the firm which he co‑founded in 1984. While at TPC, he was responsible for starting the company’s gas gathering, natural gas marketing businesses, and storage businesses. 

Christine Tezak recently covered the federally-regulated electricity and natural gas sectors and environmental policy at Stanford Group Company’s Policy Research, which provided political, economic and industry research for institutional and corporate investors.  Ms. Tezak has followed environmental policy for over a decade assumed responsibility for the electric utility and natural gas pipeline sectors in 1999. Her environmental background provides a unique perspective as energy and environmental issues continue to converge. She is an eight-term board member, and current Past President of the Washington, D.C.-based Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment. She is also a member of the Natural Gas Roundtable. She has been quoted in numerous financial and industry publications and has testified before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. House of Representatives. Prior to joining the Washington Research Group, she was a research associate with HSBC Securities, Inc. and with NatWest Securities. She received her B.A. in Russian from Boston College and an MBA in Finance from the George Washington University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (Boston College) and Beta Gamma Sigma (GWU) honor societies, and winner of the 2001 Bernard Nees Prize in Finance.