EmPOWERing the Gulf of Mexico - Energy Industry Panel Discussion - Members in Transition

Andrew Deighan is the director of Exploration for Chevron Americas Exploration and Production, based in Houston, Texas. In this role, he is responsible for Chevron’s Americas exploration program and is a member of Chevron’s Americas Strategic Leadership Team and Global Exploration Leadership Team.

 Deighan joined Chevron in 2008 as an appraisal geophysicist and, prior to joining Chevron, he worked for BG Group for 11 years. He has worked on exploration, appraisal, development roles in the UK, Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Trinidad, Egypt, Mexico, Suriname, and Morocco as well as business planning, exploration, and appraisal leadership roles. Immediately prior to his current role, he was the Manager of Chevron’s Exploration Review Team.

 Deighan is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and holds a P.hD. in geophysics from the University of Glasgow. He is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain.

Jagadeesh Unnam is an Engineering Manager for the Midsteam Process Systems at SLB. In his current role, Jadageesh manages the Process Systems New Product Development SLB’s Midstream Technology Center in Houston, TX.

 Jagadeesh has over 15 years of oil and gas process systems with strong expertise in research, engineering, manufacturing, and sustaining, all with SLB and affiliated companies including Cameron and OneSubsea.

 Jadageesh holds an M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tulsa University.

John Akerley is the Manager, Resource Operations with Ormat Technologies, Inc. in Reno, NV.  John leads the US Operations Support Team in analyzing and optimizing field and pump performance for sixteen operating geothermal power plant complexes in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho.  

He has been with ORMAT since 2012 assisting in reservoir modeling, drilling projects, and well remediation efforts.  He is also the primary point of contact for ORMAT on subsurface R&D projects, including the recently awarded Wells of Opportunity project “Comparative Analysis of Three Sequential Near-Field Well Stimulations at Three Operating Geothermal Fields in Nevada.” 

John is a Professional Engineer registered in Nevada and holds an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Dr. Birol Dindoruk is currently the American Association of Drilling Engineers Endowed Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Houston. In 2017, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his significant theoretical and practical contributions to enhanced oil recovery and CO2 sequestration. He has over 28 years of industrial experience in various technical and managerial positions, including Chief Scientist of Reservoir Physics at Shell International E&P Inc., Principal Technical Expert of Reservoir Engineering, and more.

Dr. Dindoruk has also been working in the area of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. In recent years, he has authored/co-authored various articles on hydrogen, geothermal systems, and adsorptive storage.

Dr. Dindrouk has a Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Standford University.

Joyce Eisler is a Manager, Talent Development at Oxy, based in Houston, Texas. She joined Oxy in 2000, and throughout the past 23 years, she hold several positions, all related to employees, talents, and organizational development.

Joyce values strength of character, high integrity, accountability, trust, collaboration, and respectful communication. She is an engaging speaker who endeavors to change hearts and minds, by sharing the latest research. Joyce believes in a growth mindset, and that we all have the capacity to be closer to our ideal self.

Joyce is a Certified Leadership Coach from Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and has a BS degree in business management from the University of Phoenix.