Bert Watson - Manager

Bert Watson is currently the Manager of the TransCaspian US Resources, LLC, registered in Florida.  The TransCaspian US Resources, LLC. is dedicated to creating the partnership that will own and operate the Trans Caspian Gas Pipeline, bringing together dynamic but previously uncoordinated stakeholders, defining a successful business model, bringing to bear a constructive consortium and subsequently enabling the deployment of the Trans Caspian Gas Connector Pipeline which will deliver natural gas to Caucasus which need energy resources and diverse sources.

Watson’s experience with business leaders who work with stakeholder governments and enable opportunities of mutual benefit is a substantial component during the development of the potential of the Trans Caspian Pipeline.  The tendency over the last generation of some governments has been challenging to most Western business leaders and investors.  Being able navigate those circumstances with mutually beneficial partnerships will be key to the success of this venture.

Watson is also president of Watson & Company Government Services, Inc, also in Florida. Watson has been a government relations consultant for 27 years working with issues ranging from Space technologies to supporting military initiatives to international relations including some former soviet republics, specializing in the Caspian Basin.

Dr. Rob Sobhani – Member, Advisory Committee

Sohrab (Rob) Sobhani is an American author and lecturer on energy issues, U.S. immigration policies and U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Formerly a professor at Georgetown University, Sobhani is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive of Caspian Group, a company that specializes in working with companies that have business interests in the United States, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.  He is the founder and CEO of Sparo Corporation.  Sobhani serves on the Board of Z Advanced Computing (ZAC).  Sobhani has published one book on immigration: Press 2 for English: Fix Immigration, Save America, and two books on foreign affairs: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: A Leader of Consequence and The Pragmatic Entente: Israeli-Iranian Relations, 1948-1988.

Sobhani ran as an Independent candidate for the US Senate in Maryland in 2012. He received 16.4 percent of the vote, beating the state's all-time mark for an independent or third-party candidate. 

Sobhani is CEO, chairman, and founder of Caspian Group holdings, LLC, (Caspian Group). The Caspian Group is a "multidisciplinary group of companies with broad international business interests in the fields of energy (including green renewables), infrastructure development, high technology, publishing and strategic advisory services".

In 2012, Sobhani, with the National Oil and Gas Authority, Petra Solar, and the Bahrain Petroleum Company, made an agreement to bring American-made "smart" solar technology to the township of Awali, the University of Bahrain, and other locations in Bahrain. "Smart solar is an innovative approach that couples solar with smart grid technology and is deployed in partnership with utility companies to generate clean, safe renewable energy while making the electric infrastructure more stable, efficient and energy-independent. This approach builds large-scale solar in a reliable fashion that avoids future costs of rebuilding the grid."

In 1990, the then-USSR union republic Azerbaijan was negotiating with BP for its offshore oil exploration. Sobhani, an Azeri-speaking American, was sought out by Communist Party leader Ayaz Mutalibov, who decided to allow Amoco a chance to get the deal. In 1991, after Sobhani's talks with Mutalibov, Amoco was granted exclusive rights to the Azeri oil field for one year. Eventually, several companies took a share of the offshore exploration after the fall of the Soviet Union.   

  John Roberts - Member, Advisory Committee

John M. Roberts is an energy security specialist with Methinks, focusing on the inter-relationship between energy, economic development, and politics. He is a member of the Advisory Board for the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Project on Sustainable Energy, and a member of the UNECE Group of Experts on Gas. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Centre in Washington, DC.

Roberts has a particular expertise in the development of energy in Central Asia and the Caucasus and in the pipelines designed to connect the Caspian to China, Russia, India, and Europe. He is one of Europe’s leading energy security specialists and has testified to UK parliamentary committees on Caspian, Russian, Mideast, Turkish, and Kurdish energy security issues.

His books include: Caspian Pipelines, published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs and Visions and Mirages: The Middle East in a New Era. He is also the author of a series of papers published by the UNECE in 2020 on the role of natural gas in the energy transition. In September 2015 he delivered the inaugural lecture, What is Energy Security? at the NATO Training School’s Energy Security Course in Oberammergau, Germany. 

He is currently working on such issues as Caspian and Russian gas deliveries to Europe; the development of new supply pipelines and interconnectors within Europe; and the energy security implications of gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Julian Bowden - Member, Advisory Committee

Julian Bowden worked for BP in many planning, strategy and business development roles in both the downstream oil and gas businesses.  Overseas experience included postings to the BP offices in Moscow and Brussels.  Before he left BP at the end of 2018, he was heavily involved in the planning and other business development work around creating the southern gas corridor for Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field.  He is now attached to the Oxford Energy Institute OIES.  Publications include a chapter on Azerbaijan in an OIES book on CIS gas, gas pricing for the IGU, a chapter on SE European gas in a recent EU book, and an academic article on Soviet oil trade in the UK in the 1930s.   OIES published his paper on gas in SE Europe at the end of 2019.   

Scott Cullinane - Member, Advisory Committee

Scott Cullinane is the Executive Director of the US-Europe Alliance, a bipartisan non-profit organization founded in 2019 dedicating to mobilizing citizens of the United States to advocate for the enduring strategic and economic alliance between US and Europe.

Scott is an expert in US-European relations with extensive experience working for Congress and advocacy organizations. From 2011-2018 Scott served in various positions with the US Congress, including as the Professional Staff Member for the House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee where he covered a broad jurisdiction, including the European Union, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and Central Asia. Scott’s work has focused on issues of democratic transition, rule of law, and national security. He has also worked as an election observer with the OSCE. Scott is a graduate of the Institute of World Politics in Washington and has completed course work at John Cabot University in Italy and Central European University in Hungary. He is currently based in Washington, DC.

Faisal Rabee Al Awadhi - Member, Advisory Committee

Prior to retirement, Faisal was Assistant CEO and Advisor to the Board of Dragon Oil – Dubai, managing overall company activities from 2016 to 2019. Immediately prior to that he was the General Manager of Dragon Oil Company – Ashgabat. In that position he managed the company activities resolving the issues between the State Agency and the company advising senior management responding to events in Turkmenistan. 

Previously Faisal was a consultant to international companies in MEAN and STAN Region, providing consultancy to international companies in Libya, Erbil Iraq, and Kazakhstan.

Other industry positions include Demand Management Director, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Project Director at EMAAR, Managing Director Gulf Synergy – Abu Dhabi, Managing Director, Gulf Petroleum Company, SUDAN, Senior HR Manger at Dubai Port Authorities, and manager of Production Operation, ADNOC.  He has a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering and Management from University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, USA and Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Tulsa University (TU), Oklahoma, USA

Nan Kreamer – CFO

Nan Kreamer is a senior financial leader who has served as such for various companies. Nan has held positions as Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Controller for public and private companies ranging from $2 billion in revenue to startups.

Nan started her career with Price Waterhouse and moved into corporate America. Throughout her career she has been instrumental in shaping global financial management organizations, preparing pricing models, assisting management teams in growing businesses, implementing best practice processes, preparing companies for an exit, mergers and acquisitions, creating infrastructure, financial review to Board of Directors and shareholders, pitch to investors and securing debt facilities. Nan has experience in many industries with an in-depth knowledge of financial services, vehicle leasing, mortgage, call center services and software technology.

Nan was named the 2019 Small Business Leader of the Year for the Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. She holds an MBA from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and is a CPA in the State of New York.