The Quickly Evolving World of ESG in Oil and Gas M&A

Mark Sooby joined Lazard in 2018 as a Managing Director in the Global Energy Group, focused on providing advisory services to upstream oil and gas companies.  He is based in Lazard’s Houston office.

Mark has over 40 years of upstream oil and gas experience with 65+ transactions totaling over $150 billion. Notable transactions include the merger of Carrizo Oil and Gas with Callon Petroleum, TPG Pace Energy’s acquisition of Enervest’s South Texas shale assets, Noble Energy’s Utica/Marcellus shale exit, Petrobras sale of BM-S-8 Carcara discovery to Statoil, Shell’s divestiture of South Texas gas assets to Occidental and Encana’s Haynesville JV with ExxonMobil.

Mark has extensive experience with assets located throughout the U.S. Lower 48 and all major basins. In addition, he has also completed several transactions in Latin America and elsewhere overseas. Prior to joining Lazard, Mark was a Managing Director with Deutsche Bank from 2017 to 2018 providing upstream clients in advisory services.

Mark started his oil and gas career with Pacific Enterprises Oil Company in 1984. In 1992, he joined NationsBanc Capital Markets Inc, as a Vice President of Energy A&D/M&A. In 1996, he joined ARCO International as a Director with responsibility over business development in the Middle East and Africa. From 1999 to 2006, Mark joined Petrie Parkman & Co., where he remained through its 2006 sale to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In 2017, Mark joined Deutsche Bank as Managing Director of Americas A&D/M&A, where he remained until joining Lazard in 2018.

Kansas State University, B.S. in Nuclear Engineering; Wichita State University, M.B.A.

Krish “Ravi” Ravishankar has over 38 years of experience in the energy industry (oil & gas and power sector), international consulting organizations, and international agencies (the World Bank, East West Center, Asian Development Bank, and International Finance Corporation). Currently, he is the Worldwide Director of Sustainability/Social Responsibility, Environmental Affairs and Business Development for Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY). His responsibilities include the U.S., Latin America, and the Middle East regions.

He manages and provides strategic and technical direction for OXY's Sustainability/Social Responsibility including program implementation, social investments, risk assessments, ESG performance, ESG & Climate Reporting, carbon management, and internal and external stakeholder engagements. He also provides technical guidance, resource support, and compliance review for program, policy, management system implementation related to health, safety and environment (HSE) matters for Oxy's Latin America and Middle East operations, and Oxy’s Business Development ventures worldwide covering assets acquisitions, mergers, and divestitures.

He has published two books and numerous articles in reputed international journals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, three masters’ degrees in Econometrics & Mathematical Economics; Resource and Environmental Economics; and Environmental Science and Engineering, and an ABD in Economics. He was a Fulbright Scholar, and recipient of the East West Fellowship and Monbukagakusho Scholarship. He was awarded Capgemini’s Corporate Responsivity Award in 2017.

Krish Ravishankar would like to note that he is NOT the musician Ravi Shankar.

Trina is a seasoned leader in oil and gas with expertise in international commercial development, risk management, ESG, regulatory compliance, corporate strategy, reservoir engineering, and production operations. She is currently the director of ESG and Sustainability at New Tech Global where she leverages her 22-years of diverse O&G industry experience to give clients a competitive edge as they navigate ESG.

Trina has a Harvard Executive Education, MS in Environmental Engineering, BS in Civil Engineering and wealth of quantifiable and cross-functional achievements in the Oil and Gas industry driven by long-term strategic thinking.  She has spearheaded complex change management initiatives resulting in continuous improvements and value-added contributions across multiple business units at the onshore, offshore, international, domestic, and regional level.

Chris Micsak is a Director at Pickering Energy Partners. Prior to joining PEP, he was a Director at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Asset Management. He was a Vice President at Haddington Ventures, a midstream infrastructure-focused private equity fund prior to TPH Asset Management. Before that, he was a Senior Analyst at Bentek Energy, a boutique energy consulting and analytics firm where he covered North American and global energy markets. He has also held trading and analytical positions at investment banks and hedge funds in New York, Connecticut, and Hong Kong. He holds a BA in Economics and Asian Studies and graduated magna cum laude with Honors from Colgate University.