Company
We knew there should be a better way.
So we built one.
With decades of collective experience in O&G data, we knew there was a lot to be desired. Happy with the status quo, the big companies were prone to inertia, maintaining a top-down business model with little interest in innovation. We knew there was better data to be found, better research to be made, better analysis to be applied and better service to be delivered. So we built a solution from the ground up, specifically and uniquely dedicated to meeting the needs that others ignore at your expense.
Welligence offers a more powerful flow of data—deep, granular data, continually updated and combined with unparalleled analytics and quality research, served up by the smartest and most responsive analysts in the industry.
Management Team
Deep expertise and serious intellectual firepower.
When it comes to data science, we have an industry-leading interdisciplinary team of Harvard professors, petroleum engineers, and computer scientists who have published more than a dozen papers on AI.
Ross Lubetkin
Ross Lubetkin
Seth Neel
Seth Neel
Co-founder of Welligence Energy Analytics, Dr. Neel currently oversees the data science team, designing and implementing the algorithms that power the company’s analytics. In addition to his role at Welligence, in 2021 he will start a tenure-track position on the faculty of Harvard Business School. In 2017 he was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, and in 2019 he was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the Energy category. He regularly publishes original research in some of the top artificial intelligence conferences in the world.
Dr. Neel holds a B.S. with honors in Mathematics from Harvard, and a PhD in Machine Learning from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ivan Cima
Ivan Cima
Ivan is part of the Welligence founding team and oversees the execution of the company’s strategy and business development.
Before joining Welligence, he was the Global Head of Research Operations at Wood Mackenzie and, for five years, Head of Latin America Research. Prior to that, Ivan worked in the investment banking division of a leading Central European bank where he advised on transactions in the energy and consumer goods sections.
Ivan earned a B.S. with honors in Economics and an M.B.A. from Texas A&M University.
Alberto Bullrich
Alberto Bullrich
Alberto joined Welligence Energy Analytics in 2020 and currently serves as Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to joining Welligence, he spent 15 years as Vice President at Wood Mackenzie, where he was the head of commercial operations for all of Latin America. He worked closely with the region’s NOCs, governments, E&Ps, and financial institutions. Prior to assuming this responsibility in 2005, he spent three years managing key accounts across Spain, Portugal, Germany and Austria for Wood Mackenzie in Europe.
Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Alberto spent 6 years with Cambridge Energy Research Associate (CERA, now part of IHS Markit), where he was a Director and Co-Head of the Latin America team for 4 years.
Alberto received a B.S. in Business Administration from Suffolk University and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Management from Harvard University.
Ruaraidh Montgomery
Ruaraidh Montgomery
Possessing deep analytical insight on E&P strategies, Ruaraidh joined Welligence Energy Analytics in 2018 where he currently oversees Latin America upstream research. Prior to Welligence, he spent over 13 years at Wood Mackenzie, covering Latin America’s upstream and corporate sectors, as well as the US Gulf of Mexico.
Ruaraidh also worked for Hess in its UK North Sea business unit, gaining experience in well and facilities engineering. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Ruaraidh holds a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering.
Pablo Medina
Pablo Medina
In 2018, Pablo joined Welligence Energy Analytics as a member of the founding team, bringing with him a wealth of energy policy expertise. Prior to joining the company, he was a senior analyst on Wood Mackenzie’s Latin America research team, where he covered the region in various capacities.
Playing a prominent role in Mexico’s energy reform design and implementation, he co-authored the “Mexico and the Energy Revolution” whitepaper, quoted in the President’s Energy Reform bill. He frequently speaks at industry forums and shares his views with the media.
Pablo is a member of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders and the Mexican Council of Foreign Affairs. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Andre Fagundes
Andre Fagundes
Since 2018, Andre has applied decades of oil and gas expertise to the company’s research division. Before Welligence, he was an Associate Director at IHS Markit, leading the Latin America Upstream Research team’s regional coverage. Prior to that, he was Vice President at Barclays Investment Bank, the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) and numerous E&P companies in Brazil, including Galp Energia, Starfish Oil & Gas and Vale Oil & Gas.
Andre received a B.A. in Economics from Queens College, an M.B.A from IE Business School, and a Master of Energy Economics from Rice University.
William Turner
William Turner
William joined Welligence Energy Analytics in 2019 tasked with launching the US Gulf of Mexico division. Prior to joining Welligence, William spent two years at Wood Mackenzie as a Senior Analyst covering the US Gulf of Mexico.
Prior to Wood Mackenzie, William spent over 10 years in deepwater construction, engineering and project management. William holds a Bachelor’s degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station and a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business.
Advisors & Investors
Jeffrey Harris
Jeffrey Harris
Jeffrey Harris is the founder of Global Reserve Group, an investment and advisory firm focused on the energy industry. Additionally, he is a Venture Partner of Quantum Energy Partners, an energy-focused private equity firm, and serves on Quantum’s Investment Committee.
Prior to founding the Global Reserve Group in 2011, Mr. Harris had been at Warburg Pincus since 1983 where he was a senior partner at the firm and the Head of its Energy Group. While at Warburg Pincus, he was directly involved in advising over 30 companies around the world and overseeing over $4 billion of equity investment. He has significant experience investing in and working with companies in exploration and production, oilfield services, power generation, software and cleantech.
He currently serves and has served on the Board of Directors of over 50 private and public companies including Antero Resources, Avaya, Bill Barrett Corp., Kosmos Energy, Laredo Petroleum, Newfield Exploration, RigUp, Rockcliff Energy, Serica Energy and Sheridan Production.
Between 2005 and 2017, Mr. Harris was an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business where he taught courses on venture capital, innovation and entrepreneurship. He received a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Ferris Hussein
Ferris Hussein
Ferris Hussein is a Managing Director at the Carlyle Group focused on global infrastructure and energy opportunities. He is based in Washington.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Hussein served as a Vice President of ExxonMobil where he oversaw acquisition strategy. Prior to ExxonMobil, Mr. Hussein served as an attorney for the Republic of Iraq and, prior to that, for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mr. Hussein currently serves on the Board of Directors of SEACOR Marine Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SMHI). He received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Robert Israel
Robert Israel
Robert Israel currently serves as a managing member of One Stone Energy Partners private equity fund. The fund is focused on investments in natural resources, primarily oil and gas, and related businesses.
Previously, Mr. Israel was a Partner at Compass Advisers, a transatlantic strategic advisory and private investment firm. During his time at Compass, Mr. Israel was the Head of the firm’s energy practice. He has been involved in a wide range of energy related engagements, principal investments and corporate finance, including exclusive advisory to Lukoil on the formation of its strategic relationship with ConocoPhillips.
Prior to joining Compass in May 2000, Mr. Israel was the Head of the Energy Department of Schroder & Co. Inc., where he advised companies in all segments of the energy industry. Notable assignments include Conoco Inc. management on its separation from Dupont Inc., which resulted in the largest IPO, to that date, in U.S. history.
Mr. Israel has been directly involved in several energy related investments including Venture Production Company, Brasoil Do Brasil, Hart Energy, Canyon Offshore Company and Suelopetrol C.A.
Currently, Mr. Israel is a Director of BlueCrest Energy, an Alaska based oil and gas company; Yoho Resources Inc., a Canadian exploration and production company; and API, Inc. a company which manufactures secure equipment for U.S. and foreign government agencies.
Mr. Israel holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Middlebury College. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Latin America and West Africa.
Michael Kearns
Michael Kearns
Michael Kearns is a Professor and National Center Chair in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, with secondary appointments in the departments of Economics, Statistics, and Operations, Information and Decisions of the Wharton School. He is the Founding Director of Penn’s Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences, as well as the Penn Program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering. His research includes topics in machine learning, algorithmic game theory, computational social science, and quantitative finance and algorithmic trading.
Mr. Kearns spent a decade at AT&T Bell Labs, where he was the Head of the AI department, which conducted a range of systems and foundational AI and machine learning research. He has also consulted extensively in the technology and finance industries.
Mr. Kearns studied math and computer science at UC Berkeley, and completed his Ph.D. in computer science at Harvard University in 1989. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory.
Stephan Farber
Stephan Farber
Stephan Farber is the founder and CEO of Sound Post Capital, LLC, a multi-family office with a focus on energy, real estate and media.
Previously, Mr. Farber was a Director at Deutsche Bank. He also held similar roles at BAML and UBS. Prior to his career in banking, he worked for many years in the entertainment industry. He has worked with companies such as Columbia Records and Sony Classical and with artists David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, and Philip Glass.
Stephan received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Oberlin College, where he serves on the President’s Advisory Council.
An avid supporter of the arts, Stephan serves on the boards of Arco Collaborative (established by internationally renowned violinist Jennifer Koh) and Ojai Music Festival. In his free time, Stephan enjoys collecting and playing pre-war Gibson mandolins.
Alexandre Nogueira
Alexandre Nogueira
Alexandre Nogueira heads the international investment efforts of the J. Mendes Investment Office, a single family office based in Brazil. His experience includes over a decade of private equity investing, having executed deals in Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Prior to J. Mendes, Mr. Nogueira worked in Business Development at TRX Investments, where he structured acquisition and development projects in real estate. Prior to TRX, Mr. Nogueira worked in the Portfolio Management Group at Goldman Sachs, where he managed discretionary investment funds for private clients.
Mr. Nogueira received a degree in Industrial Engineering with honors from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, a Master in Finance with high honors from HEC Paris, an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Donald E. Zilkha
Donald E. Zilkha
Over the past 30 years, Mr. Zilkha has been involved in strategic advisory, leveraged buyouts, restructurings, recapitalizations and reorganizations both as a principal and a third-party adviser. He began his career in 1973 with J.P. Morgan where he gained expertise in structuring tax incentivized investments, restructuring bank credits and M&A advisory. In 1981, Mr. Zilkha joined James D. Wolfensohn, one of the first investment banking boutiques, where he served as a senior member of the firm’s M&A advisory team, and as a General Partner of Wolfensohn Venture Partners.
In 1986, Mr. Zilkha established Zilkha & Company, an investment banking boutique specialized in delivering M&A expertise and strategic guidance to large multinational companies. Through 1994, Zilkha & Company originated or participated in transactions valued at over $3.5 billion. In 1994, the company entered the private equity/venture capital business, focusing on seed capital and restructuring opportunities. In 1998, Mr. Zilkha established Zilkha Capital Partners private equity fund, and in 1999, Mr. Zilkha established and raised funding for Zilkha Venture Partners, which focused on seed stage companies. In 2006, Mr. Zilkha founded Zilkha Partners. The firm pursues a constructive activist approach to the implementation of value-creating strategies for small-cap public companies.
Mr. Zilkha received a B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University and serves as a Trustee Emeritus of Wesleyan University. He has served on the Board of Directors of Electronic Retail Systems and was the Chairman of Colt’s Manufacturing Company.
