OPEC+ is expected to fully return to market by end-September the 2.2 million barrels per day of nominal voluntary supply cuts eight countries within the group made in 2022. The market has been absorbing the higher supply with minimal price impact. This has been been for two essential reasons: 1. refinery margins are robust and crude stocks are relatively low globally, so the added crude has not had the bearish consequences in the summer market; and 2. summer oil burn for power generation in the Middle East is more than one million barrels per day above Spring levels. But, the summer power generation season will be over after September, as global refinery demand for crude also falls during Autumn season. How will the market move? How might OPEC+ members respond, either individually or as a group? If OPEC+ decides when it next meets in early September to suspend the September return of voluntary cuts to markets, it would also raise questions about where prices are heading and what OPEC+ might do to put a floor under prices.
Please join us for a panel discussion with Adam Sieminski, former Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration and current Senior Advisor and former President of KAPSARC; Amena Bakr, Head of Middle East and OPEC+ Insights at Kpler; and Natasha Kaneva, Head of Global Commodities Strategy at J.P. Morgan. Carolyn Kissane, NY Energy Forum Board Member and Associate Dean at NYU Center for Global Affairs, will moderate the discussion.
This session will be in collaboration with New York University's Center for Global Affairs (CGA) and hosted in person at the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.
SPEAKERS:
Adam Sieminski
Adam Sieminski is currently a Senior Advisor to the Board, and previously (2018-2021) served as President of KAPSARC, a non- government, non-profit, think tank located in Riyadh. Its mission is to advance understanding of energy, economics, and sustainability.
Prior to joining KAPSARC, Mr. Sieminski held the Schlesinger Chair for Energy and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Sieminski served as Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical division of the Department of Energy in 2012-2017. While awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation for the EIA appointment, he was the Senior Director for Energy and Environment at the U.S. National Security Council. He was previously Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist and integrated oil company analyst, and before that held several positions as an energy financial analyst in Baltimore, London, New York, and Washington, DC.
Mr. Sieminski is an active member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), a Senior Fellow and former President of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) and was President of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts. He earned both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in public administration from Cornell University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Amena Bakr
Amena Bakr is the Head of Middle East Energy & OPEC+ research at Kpler based in Dubai as of 2025. She leads the analysis and client engagement on oil markets, Opec policy, political trends and risk assessments in the Middle East and Gulf Arab region.
Prior this, Amena was a senior research analyst with Energy Intelligence Group for a year. Amena was also Energy Intelligence’s Chief OPEC Correspondent and Dubai Deputy Bureau Chief for the past eight years. In that capacity, Amena received several international journalism awards for her work that covered energy news and analysis related to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries. In 2023, she received the OPEC award for best journalist, and in 2019, The International Association for Energy Economics gave her the award for Excellence in Written Journalism for covering the energy sector.
Amena was also an Energy Correspondent for Reuters news agency for six years, posted in Dubai, Doha and Riyadh. Amena holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport in Egypt, with a major in management information systems.
Natasha Kaneva
Natasha Kaneva is Head of the Global Commodities Strategy team at J.P. Morgan. In her role she drives and oversees the global commodities research activities, setting the firm’s views across energy, base and precious metals and agricultural commodities. The team integrates detailed fundamental commodity analysis with J.P. Morgan’s macro-economic forecasts, linking leading indicators of global economic activity with pricing models.
Previously, Natasha was the Head of Base and Precious Metals Research, establishing a global presence in the metals markets by not only spearheading J.P. Morgan related client events but also offering expertise at industry conferences. Natasha joined J.P. Morgan in 2012 as a base and precious metals analyst, specializing in market fundamentals. Prior to joining the firm, she spent six years as a buyside metals analyst. Natasha has graduate degrees in linguistics and finance and speaks four languages.
MODERATOR:
Carolyn Kissane
Carolyn Kissane erves as the Associate Dean of New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and Director of NYU’s SPS Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab. Carolyn Kissane’s areas of thought leadership and entrepreneurship include the Energy Transition, Sustainability Innovation, and Policy, as well as Cybersecurity. Dr. Kissane is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations. She serves on the boards of the New York Energy Forum, New York Energy Week, and Clean Start Advisory Board. She was awarded Breaking Energy’s Top Ten New York Women in Energy and Top Ten Energy Communicator. She hosts Fueling our Future, which brings energy and environment experts together for discussion and debate. Dr. Kissane received her Ph.D. from Columbia University.
PROGRAM:
5:00 - 5:30 PM: Registration
5:30 - 7:00 PM: Presentation and Discussion
7:00 - 7:30 PM: Reception
REGISTRATION:
Registration link will be available soon.
QUESTIONS:
We would be pleased to answer any questions you might have about The Energy Forum, Inc. or about this session. Please contact executivedirector@nyenergyforum.org.