Argus Road Transportation Fuels Europe Conference

Sigurd Jørgensen

Director, Public Affairs, External Communications & Marketing , Yara Industrial Solutions

Sigurd Jørgensen is Director, Public Affairs, External Communications & Marketing in Yara Industrial Solutions. Firmly focused on its mission to “Responsibly feed the world and protect the planet” Yara is the world’s largest producer of AdBlue. Previously Sigurd worked in various sales and marketing roles for Shell in Oslo and London – from where he was one of four Directors who started automotive chemicals company Carix Group Ltd in a Management Buyout backed by 3i in 2000. Following the divestment of Carix to consumer and industrial chemicals group Kemetyl in 2005, Sigurd served in Group Director, Vice President and Managing Director roles there from 2006 to 2013, before joining Yara in 2014. Born in Norway, Sigurd has a BA with 1st Class Honours in Marketing from Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, Scotland.

Caroline de Jonge

Business Manager AdBlue/DEF, OCI Global

Caroline is the Business Manager of AdBlue®/DEF for OCI Nitrogen in Europe. She has nearly 18 years of experience in the Automotive sector in various functions ranging from Sales & Export to Business Development management. Currently she is leading the Business of the AdBlue® development within OCI Europe focusing on developing markets and sustainable/decarbonized DEF/AdBlue® related products.

Isabelle Weber

Director of Regulatory Affairs , Saipol (Avril)

Isabelle has been Director of Regulatory Affairs for Saipol (Groupe Avril) since 2022. Saipol is the leading French processor of rapeseed and sunflower seeds and one of Europe's leading crushers, refiners of vegetable oils and producers of biodiesel. Isabelle is a lawyer by training, with a master's in European law. She has worked in the agri-food sector for over 15 years, at a law firm and then at Danone as Director of Regulatory Affairs for France. Isabelle is also President of Esterifrance, which represents the interests of fatty acid methyl ester manufacturers in France.

Zoltan Elek

CEO and Founder, Landwärme

After working for notable names such as E.ON Engineering and McKinsey & Company, Zoltan founded Landwärme in 2007 and is the Chief Executive of the Germany-based company. Landwärme is a biomethane supplier active in the European market — with a trading portfolio of more than 3TWh, it is one of the leading biomethane traders in Europe. Not only is the company a pioneer in the German market, it is also building bridges between east and west Europe and doing away with obstacles that stand in the way of an integrated European market for renewable gas. Zoltan offers a wealth of experience in, and well-founded knowledge of, the biomethane industry and markets in Europe. He actively participates in the discourse surrounding renewable energies and biomethane in particular. He graduated from the Technical University of Munich after completing a degree in electrical engineering, where he majored in energy technology. He is also a graduate of the Center for Digital Technology and Management at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, participated in an MBA programme, and completed an executive programme at Harvard Business School.

Bram Wesstein

Sales Manager/Business Development Manager, OCI Nitrogen Europe

Scott Nelson

President and Head of Trading Refinery Feedstocks & Products, Reliance International

Scott Nelson is President and Head of Trading Refinery Feedstocks & Products for Reliance International, based in Dubai. Scott traded for Cargill in Singapore and Geneva. He joined Total in Geneva where he traded middle distillates globally before becoming global trading head for Socar Trading SA in Geneva. Prior to joining Reliance, he was President of Oil and gas for BP Middle East & East Africa. Scott has a degree in economics from the University of Melbourne.

Nico de Wijk

Manager Procurement, Kemetyl Nederland BV

Nico started his career in seafaring and logistics. Since the early 1990s he has held various procurement positions at Nike, Interface, DSM Niaga, BMI and eventually Kemetyl. He has extensive experience in the outsourcing of manufacturing and the procurement of raw materials for industrial purposes. Kemetyl specialises in chemicals for car care, industrial cleaning and leisure use, operates in more than 10 countries, and produces 88mn litres of fluids from its own production facilities, contract fillers and storage facilities around the world. Products are sold in packages ranging from bulk down to small consumer packages. Nico manages the procurement department for Kemetyl in the Netherlands.

Xavier Noyon

Secretary General, European Biodiesel Board (EBB)

Brussels-based EBB is the association for companies producing biodiesel (HVO and FAME) in the EU and represents producers using all feedstocks — food/feed crops, waste, residues and other biogenic materials. Xavier has experience from previous roles at PEFC International, the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation, Logos Public Affairs and Orgalime. He holds a master’s degree in European public policy from Institut d’études politiques de Strasbourg.

Marco Lietz

Senior Public & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Neste

Marco Lietz is a senior public affairs professional with a passion for renewable solutions and sustainable mobility. Marco currently serves as Senior Public Affairs Manager for Central and Eastern Europe at Neste. He joined Neste in 2020. Neste is the world’s leading producer of renewable fuels, such as renewable diesel/HVO and sustainable aviation fuels. Before joining Neste, Marco worked as Head of Public Affairs and Communications Europe at the e-scooter start-up Circ (later acquired by Bird) in 2019-20. During that time, he led the launch of e-scooter sharing services in 15 countries in Europe and the Middle East. From 2014 to 2019, he held various positions as a public affairs consultant in Germany, most recently as team leader for energy and mobility at leading international communications firm Burson in Berlin. He studied political science and economics at University of Greifswald, Germany, and European Studies at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

Maximilian Ruhe

Managing Shareholder, RUHE Biogas

Maximilian Ruhe is an industrial engineer and is responsible for the development and operation of plants that upgrade and liquefy biomethane and carbon dioxide from biogas. He specialises in plant engineering, sustainability management and marketing models for products made from biogas — especially biomethane, bio-LNG and bio-LCO2. After completing his master’s degree in international management, he worked in the start-up scene before setting up a new business division in family company RUHE.

Tobias Block

Head of Strategy and Content, eFuel Alliance

Tobias is an industrial engineer and Chief Strategy Officer at industry group the eFuel Alliance. He is an all-rounder when it comes to technical, economic and political challenges at the interface between renewable energies and the automotive industry. He studied energy and environmental management at the University of Flensburg, before obtaining a doctorate on eFuels business models at the University of St Gallen. He then worked for German automaker Audi, after which he joined the German Association of the Automotive Industry, where he co-ordinated the group’s renewable fuel activities.

Felipe Rodriguez

Deputy Managing Director, ICCT Europe

Felipe Rodríguez is the Deputy Managing Director of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) Europe, and a global director of ICCT’s Heavy-Duty Vehicle Programme. His work focuses on reducing the climate and air quality impacts of transport through improvements in conventional and zero emission technologies. Prior to joining ICCT, Felipe worked in the automotive industry and in academia investigating the formation of pollutants in combustion processes. Felipe has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MSc in Automotive Engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

Jens Assmann

Business Management Ammonia Value Chain & Operations Amino Resins, BASF SE

Jens Aßmann heads as Vice President the Business Management of BASF’s ammonia value chain in Europe as well as BASF’s amino resins production. He held positions across the areas of innovation, strategy & business management at BASF. For three years, he worked as Staff to BASF’s CTO. Jens studied chemistry at the university of Göttingen where he received his doctoral degree in the field of Physical Chemistry. He founded a start-up in 2002 and joined BASF as a research scientist in 2003.

Inga Landgrebe

Public Affairs Manager, GP JOULE Hydrogen GmbH

Inga Landgrebe is a public affairs expert with a special emphasis on hydrogen and mobility. Before joining GP Joule as Public Affairs Manager, Inga worked for many years at the German Bundestag, most recently heading the office of Federal Minister Cem Özdemir. Before that she worked as an economic policy adviser for the Green parliamentary group and as an adviser for various members of parliament. Inga studied in Maastricht, Seoul, Lisbon and Frankfurt (Oder) and has an MA and BA in European Studies.

Dario Formenti

System Manager Sustainable Fuels, International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC)

Dario has worked for global certification body the ISCC since 2022, focusing on the maritime and aviation sectors, and biofuels and power-to-liquid technologies in particular. He previously worked as a researcher at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, specialising in sustainable and green chemistry and power-to-X technologies. Dario has a PhD in chemical science from the University of Milan and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis.

Kai Bueber

Global Category Leader Diesel/Oil - Group Energy Procurement, Heidelberg Materials AG

Kai took on the position as Global Category Leader Diesel/Oil in 2023, with responsibility for the group-wide procurement of oil products such as diesel, heating oil, marine fuel, gasoil, bitumen, lubricants and petroleum coke. He started his career as a trainee in group energy procurement at Heidelberg Materials, formerly known as HeidelbergCement. After familiarising himself with a wide range of energy products and energy markets, he soon became responsible for the company’s oil-based liquid fuels portfolio. He studied Business Management (Entrepreneurship) at Edinburgh Napier University.

Jan Hoffmann

Key Account Manager Greenhouse Gas Quota, Landwaerme

Jan Hoffmann completed a dual bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Siemens in Berlin. With a great passion for new mobility concepts, he was able to gain work experience in the sales team of the electric motor division of Siemens AG both during and after completing his studies.
After a year abroad as a volunteer for the organisation Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (ASF) in Ukraine in 2018/2019, he successfully completed his Master of Energy Economics & Business Administration at the University of Leipzig in 2021.
He then returned to Berlin to work for LNG fuelling station operator ViGo Bioenergy (formerly Liquind) as Business Development Manager with a focus on bio-LNG projects. It was there that Jan Hoffmann first came into contact with the topic of greenhouse gas reduction quotas.
Since May 2022, he has been working as Key Account Manager GHG Quota at Landwärme and is in contact with mineral oil companies in Germany. Here he develops customised purchasing and sales solutions for his customers, deals with the biofuel market and continues to be in contact with bio-LNG producers.

Detlef Evers

Managing Director, Mittelstandsverband abfallbasierter Kraftstoffe e.V. (MVaK)

Detlef Evers has been working for the MVaK since 2015; a Berlin-based association representing the interests of key companies operating along the value chain for the production of waste-based and advanced biofuels. The members of the MVaK are based in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. He has been working in the field of biofuels since 1995. Before he joined the MVaK he worked for Archer Daniels Midland in different management positions. His first task in the biofuels segment was to market biodiesel produced by the first large-scale German biodiesel plant in Leer.

Frédéric Aertsens

Sector Group Manager for Sustainable Fuels, Cefic

Frédéric Aertsens is Sector Group Manager for Sustainable Fuels. Cefic represents Europe’s major fuel ether producers — MTBE, ETBE, TAME and TAEE. Cefic members support and disseminate scientific research on the benefits and impact of fuel ethers on vehicle performance, health and the environment, and advocate for science-based policy making, through active cooperation with regulators, legislators, industry, NGOs and the academic community. Frédéric is based in Brussels and has a background in EU environmental and energy law. He started his career at the European Commission before joining government affairs consultancy Dentons Global Advisors, where he oversaw the mobility practice, advising clients on EU and global emissions and vehicle safety policies.

Daniel Kaddik

General Manager, Bundesverband freier Tankstellen (BFT)

The BFT association represents a network of 530 companies in the field of fuel for cars and homes. Daniel is also part of the directors' group of the association of SME Energy Germany — Mittelstandische Energiewirtschaft Deutschland. Over the past 15 years he has he worked with national and local governments, politicians and non-governmental organisations in Germany, India, Russia, central Asia, southeast Europe and the EU. Daniel has degrees in Governmental Studies from the University of Erfurt, European Studies from the University of Hamburg and International Studies from the University of Birmingham.

Robin Futcher

Managing Director, Commercial Fuels Solutions

Robin has over 27 years of experience designing and engineering fuel distribution systems. He is a member of several technical committees for gaseous and liquid fuel systems, including standards bodies BSI and ISO, and has consulted on regulatory and safety topics across petroleum, fuel oil, hydrogen, ammonia and AdBlue. He is responsible for the Energy Institute’s guidance on the correct and safe handling of NOx reduction agent, and is an advocate for minimising the environmental impact of refuelling. Robin is dedicated to advancing hydrogen technology within the commercial sector and ensuring its safe integration. He serves as the technical author for BSI Flex 2073 — a guide for hydrogen fuelling under the Department of Transport-funded Zero-Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator initiative — further demonstrating his role in shaping industry standards and safety for renewable and low-carbon fuels.

Hanspeter Tiede

Chief Financial Officer, Lothe Group

Hanspeter has spent 20 years working in the oil industry, firstly with BP and since 2005 with Germany energy company Lother. In his current role, Hanspeter is responsible for Lother’s financials and future business prospects, including solar energy, future fuels, e-mobility and sustainability.

Elmar Baumann

Managing Director, VDB

Elmar holds an engineering degree in biotechnology, with a focus on process engineering, and a Master of Industrial Engineering with advanced training in investment/financing, logistics and innovation management. Elmar has been working for the German Biofuel Industry Association since 2007. He originally served as a specialist for technology, economics and sustainability. Since 2009, Elmar has been the managing director of the association, where he has been representing the interests of the member companies in their dealings with politics and administration at national and EU level. Lately, he has engaged in the RED III energy directive, the CO2-fleet target regulation and the ETS II in Brussels.

Kevin Schaefer

SVP – Germany and Central Europe, Argus Media

Hagen Reiners

Editor – Oil Products, Argus Media

Hagen Reiners heads the Argus editorial team in Hamburg. He manages the O.M.R. Fuels and O.M.R. Intraday services. Since 2015 he has been working with the German oil products industry. He oversees the Argus coverage of the German markets for heating oil, diesel, gasoline, GHG quota, biomethane, AdBlue and Rhine freight. Before working at Argus, he worked as a journalist for various media such as Handelsblatt and Deutschlandfunk. He holds a Masters in Journalism from Brunel University in London and a Bachelors from Cologne University.

Bryn James

Analyst - Consulting, Argus Media

Benedict George

Deputy Editor - Oil Products, Argus Media

Benedict George is the deputy editor of the Argus European Products report. He began by assessing diesel prices when he joined Argus in 2019 and has since spread his coverage across the European products, during the disruption of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He leads Argus’ coverage of the European refining industry in particular.

Tim Cheyne

SVP - Global Head of Agriculture, Fertilizers, Ammonia, DEF, Argus

Tim is Senior Vice President for the fertilizer sector at Argus. Tim worked a process manager at an ammonia/urea plant in South Africa before moving to the UK to join KBR (then M.W. Kellogg) as a process engineer in the ammonia technology team. More recently Tim has covered fertilizer and industrial nitrogen as a market analyst.