The Middle East Bunkering Convention Programme

2025: An inflection point for the bunker industry?

3-5 February 2025 - Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

Standard Rate: £650

Programme details are updated regularly and are subject to change as new speakers are confirmed and themes developed.

If you feel you could make a significant contribution to the programme, please email Lesley Bankes-Hughes at lesley@ship.energy or call +44 1295 814455 to discuss this further.

Monday 3 February

18:00-19:00

Welcome Reception
Hilton Dubai Jumeriah - Tiger Bar

DAY ONE - Tuesday 4 February

08:00

Welcome Coffee 

09:00

Welcome to the Middle East Bunkering Convention 2025
Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy

Keynote Speech - Middle East oil market outlook in the midst of geopolitical uncertainties
Dr. Iman Nasseri, Managing Director, Middle East, Facts Global Energy

SESSION ONE: Business as usual? Commercial challenges in the mid-2020s

This session will set the scene for MEBC 25 by looking at the impact on global and regional bunker markets of an increasingly complex and unstable geopolitical situation as well as current sanctions regimes. Speakers will look at issues such as vessel routing, bunker planning, credit and counterparty relationships. What does it take to be ahead of the game in today’s bunker industry?

09:15

Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy

Oil Markets and the second Trump presidency
Daniel Colover, Head of Global Engagement & Intelligence for Oil/LNG, S&P Global Commodity Insights

Mark Lakin, Partner, Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP

William Hogg, Senior Analyst, Counterparty Risk/Due Diligence, Infospectrum

Commercial Realities and Strategies in the Mid 2020s
Abdelrahman Tharwat, Regional Supply Manager, ME & India, Sing Fuels

ElbOil
Harro Booth, Founder & CEO, ElbOil

Panel Discussion
Ines Trelles Effinger, Global Head of Trading, Oilmar DMCC

10:30

Networking Coffee Break

SESSION TWO: It’s complicated: The ramifications of global and regional regulations

The shipping and marine fuel sectors are increasingly subject to global and regional regulations which are intended to reduce the industry’s environmental impact.  Speakers will discuss the obligations – and costs – placed on the industry in order to comply with recent and upcoming regulations, such as CII, the EU Emissions Trading System, and FuelEU Maritime. A global carbon levy and fuel standard are also on the table for discussion at the International Maritime Organization. This session will seek clarification on the ramifications for the global shipping sector of new regulations and legislation and will examine the role of the bunker industry in navigating the regulatory maze. Will regulation be an effective driver for shipping’s decarbonisation and should incentivisation also be part of the mix?

11:00

Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy

Contractual Consideration of Decarbonisation Issues
James Kennedy, Partner, Preston Turnbull LLP

Maria Skipper Schwenn, Director of Environmental Regulatory Affairs, Group Commercial, Bunker Holding

Maximilian Schroer, Co-Founder, BetterSea

Emissions Compliance as a Service
Fernando Alvarez, Founder, Z-Joule

12:30

Networking Lunch

SESSION THREE: Local knowledge: The outlook for Fujairah and Middle East bunker markets

This session will offer a ‘deep dive’ into the challenges and opportunities for these important marine fuel markets and provide some perspectives on what the future looks like for them from a short- and medium-term perspective. Speakers will share insights on the region’s refining, energy transportation and storage landscape and they will also look at the changing dynamics in regional shipping, supply and trading.

13:30

Moderator: Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy

Sean Burgin, Senior Bunker Purchaser & Team Leader, Glander International Bunkering

Developments - Middle East
Colin Holloway Global Head - Technical Cockett Group

Advancing Marine Services and Bunkering for a Sustainable Future
Haitham Al Tamimi, Lead Business Development, Marine Services and Shipping, SOHAR Port and Freezone

Panel Discussion
Capt. Farhad P Patel, Director, Sharaf Shipping Agency
Kenneth Dam, Global Head of Bunkering, TFG Marine

14:30

Networking Coffee Break

SESSION FOUR: It’s all about the fuel: Bunker quality and an evolving fuel mix

The fuel quality session is a staple of MEBC. In this discussion, speakers will consider global and regional fuel quality trends. Have there been any ‘red flags’ over the past year, and what are the implications of the revised ISO 8217 commercial specification? As different fuels enter the marine fuel mix, how are fuel testing agencies responding to a new bunker ‘landscape’.

15:00

Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy

The Unintended Consequences of Change
Chris Turner, Manager Bunker Quality & Claims, Integr8 Fuels

Trends in Bunker Claims
Jasmin Fichte, Managing Partner, Fichte & Co

Fuel Quality Trends and ISO 8217:2024
Maria Tzigianni, Marine Fuels Business Development Manager, Bureau Veritas VeriFuel

SESSION FIVE: Data dialogue: the ‘disrupters’ of digitalisation and AI

The first day of MEBC will conclude with a focused Q&A with leaders who are driving the digitalisation of shipping and bunkering . They will explain how digitalisation and AI are gamechangers for the industry in terms of fuel measurement and procurement, bunker planning, workflow processes and vessel efficiencies.

16:00

Moderator: Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy

The ‘Disrupters’ of Digitalisation and AI - is MFM a Disruptor?
Claudia Beumer, Owner/Director, C4 fuel

Julie Louise Nielsen, Global Head of Bunker Sales, StormGeo

Panel Discussion
Emil Parmo Hansen, Senior Account Executive, Ofiniti

17:15-19:30

Post-conference Evening Drinks Reception
Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Garden Area

DAY TWo - wednesday 5 february

SESSION SIX: Making the switch: Delivering on the energy transition

In this session, speakers will look at shipping’s energy transition from a bunker industry perspective. What is the role of the marine fuel sector in facilitating this transition, what might a global and regional bunker supply infrastructure look like in the future, and what will be the pivotal role of ports in the fuel supply chain?

09:30

Moderator: Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Managing Director, ship.energy

Decarbonising the Maritime Industry
Gary Hubbard, SVP, Commercial Operations, The Biofuel Company

Upscaling the LNG Bunkering Infrastructure
Amine El Kadiri, General Manager – GTT Middle East LLC

Dr. Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Abri, Vice President – Sustainability, SOHAR Port and Freezone

Chris Greenwood – Vice President – Survey & Inspection, Inchcape Shipping Services

10:45

Networking Coffee Break

SESSION SEVEN: The MEBC Leadership Panel: Making sense of it all

Drawing MEBC 2025 to a close, key players in the shipping and marine fuels industries will look at the ‘health’ of these global businesses. Are we at an inflection point in 2025, what are the lessons to be learned from the past, very eventful decade, and does the role of a leader need to be reevaluated in order for the bunker sector to thrive in the immediate and longer-term? Are there steps that should taken now to futureproof the industry, and what are the skillsets required by those who currently work in the industry as well as by its future workforce?

11:15

Moderator: Llewellyn Bankes-Hughes, CEO & Founder, ship.energy

Maria Skipper Schwenn, Director of Environmental Regulatory Affairs, Group Commercial, Bunker Holding

Harro Booth, Founder & CEO, ElbOil 

Fernando Alvarez, Founder, Z-Joule

12:15

Networking Lunch

14:00

Close of MEBC25