Bus. Devt: Bulls and Bears - US M,A&D Activity and Capital Markets, Recent Trends and Driving Themes in the E&P

 Brian Lidsky is Managing Director, PLS Inc. in Houston.  Brian has over 25 years of oil and gas experience with expertise in upstream investments, valuations, operations and management.  Prior roles include EVP and Director of John S. Herold, Inc., (now IHS Herold), co-founder of Calgary-based private E&P Vigilant Exploration (sold to Tourmaline Exploration) and Managing Director of M1 Energy Capital.  He holds a B.S. degree in Geology from Emory University and an M.B.A. from the Jesse H. Jones School of Administration at Rice University.  He is a member of AAPG and SPE.

 Ms. Barnes has over 20 years of financial experience and a background in engineering.  Prior to recently founding Tanda Resources LLC, Ms. Barnes was Head of Oil & Gas Investment and Corporate Banking at Key Banc Capital Markets from October 2011 through April 2013.

Previously, Ms. Barnes was Head of Energy Investment Banking at Madison Williams. Prior to joining Madison Williams, Ms. Barnes served as Managing Director at Merrill Lynch &Co.'s energy investment banking practice. She joined Merrill Lynch as part of the firm's 2006 acquisition of Petrie Parkman & Co. During the six years Ms. Barnes was at Petrie Parkman and Merrill Lynch, she successfully executed a variety of merger, acquisition, and divestiture transactions for energy clients, advised on public and private equity offerings and structured and placed private debt and equity. Prior to joining Petrie Parkman, Ms. Barnes was with Enron Energy Services as Vice President, responsible for executing energy management contracts with large industrial clients, including refineries and chemical companies. From 1994 through 2000, Ms. Barnes worked as Managing Director and Senior Vice President for Nesbitt Burns Securities in New York and Houston, serving as head of the firm's U.S. energy investment banking group. From 1984 through 1993, Ms. Barnes worked for Bank of Montreal in New York and Calgary, specializing in structured finance and corporate banking for energy clients.

Ms. Barnes began her career as a reservoir engineer for a subsidiary of Exxon, and was a licensed petroleum engineer. She received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Dean's List) from University of Manitoba, and a Master's of Business Administration from York University.  Ms. Barnes is active in oil and gas industry activities and the Houston community.  She currently is a board member of the Houston Energy Finance Group and Chairperson of the Santa Maria Hostel Foundation, and recently served as a board member for the Harris County Houston Sports Authority and the Houston Producers Forum.

Manuj co-heads the 45 person energy investment research team at ITG IR, a market leading oil and gas research and advisory firm that works with several hundred institutional investors, E&P companies and private equity shops. For almost 15 years, he has completed several hundred evaluations of public and private producers, plays and assets. Manuj has served as a trusted advisor for multiple company boards and executive teams around strategy and execution on new and existing assets. Prior to joining ITG IR, Manuj was a partner at the Ross Smith Energy Group which was sold to ITG in 2011. Manuj obtained his bachelor of commerce degree with distinction from the University of Calgary and has earned the FRM and CFA charters.