Our Team

Management
François-Régis Mouton de Lostalot

François-Régis Mouton de Lostalot

Managing Director - IOGP Europe
LinkedIn Biography
François-Régis Mouton de Lostalot
Managing Director - IOGP Europe

François-Régis joined IOGP in January 2018. He has around 30 years of international experience in the oil and gas industry. He is seconded to IOGP from TotalEnergies, where he was Vice President for Oil and Gas Advocacy. His career has taken him from reservoir engineering to business development and Public Affairs, working in Europe, U.S. and Africa. He has also served in senior advisory roles at the World Bank’s Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership in Washington D.C. and TotalEnergies’ European Affairs office in Brussels.

François-Régis is married, and has four children and a golden retriever.

Close

gro.pgoi@mrf
Catherine Bacho

Catherine Bacho

Executive Assistant
LinkedIn Biography
Catherine Bacho
Executive Assistant

Catherine is an experienced executive assistant from Sweden who joined IOGP Europe in January this year. She has for the past 13 years been working for the Swedish Ambassador to NATO and acted as Liaison Officer during NATO Summits and Ministerial meetings. Furthermore Catherine is not completely unfamiliar with the EU as her career started at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU, followed by 10 years at the EU lobbying office of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. She has also worked in EU civilian crisis management during a time when there was a need for rule of law support to Iraq.

Outside of work Catherine enjoys travelling, reading historical novels and going for long walks with friends. She is married with two teenage children.

Close

gro.pgoi@abc

Policy

Maria Karagiannidou-Rosiek

Maria Karagiannidou-Rosiek

Head of Policy - Europe
LinkedIn Biography
Maria Karagiannidou-Rosiek
Head of Policy - Europe

Maria Karagiannidou-Rosiek joined IOGP in 2020 and currently serves as Head of Policy Europe, overseeing a diverse portfolio of EU policy areas including energy, climate, sustainability, and environmental regulation. She brings more than a decade of international experience in the oil and gas industry, with a strong emphasis on EU regulatory affairs and stakeholder engagement.

Maria began her career within the EU institutions, holding roles at the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Parliament, and the Greek Permanent Representation to the EU. She later gained experience with FuelsEurope, the refining industry association, before joining MOL Group in Budapest, where she spent over six years leading the company’s EU regulatory affairs and advancing key public affairs and business initiatives.

A graduate of the College of Europe, Maria holds a Master’s degree in EU International Relations and Diplomacy. She is fluent in English, Polish, and Greek, and has a working knowledge of French.

Close

gro.pgoi@km
Caterina De Matteis

Caterina De Matteis

Senior Manager - Energy and Climate
LinkedIn Biography
Caterina De Matteis
Senior Manager - Energy and Climate

Caterina De Matteis is a Senior Policy Manager at IOGP Europe, where she leads advocacy on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and oversees the energy and climate pillar of the policy team. She brings over 10 years of experience in EU energy policy, with a core focus on CCS and hydrogen. Caterina previously served as Co-Chair of the European Commission’s CCUS Forum Working Group on CO₂ infrastructure. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna, specialized in EU affairs.

Close

gro.pgoi@mdc
Gabrielle van Melkebeke

Gabrielle van Melkebeke

Senior Manager - Sustainability and Environment
gro.pgoi@mvg
Jonathan Smith

Jonathan Smith

Senior Policy Advisor
gro.pgoi@msj
Emils Lagzdins

Emils Lagzdins

Senior Officer - Security of Supply and Methane emissions
LinkedIn Biography
Emils Lagzdins
Senior Officer - Security of Supply and Methane emissions

Emils has a background in policy analysis and advocacy in the field of European and international energy and climate policies. Emils joined IOGP Europe from the European Commission where he focused on EU’s external energy policy.

Prior to that Emils acquired a Master of Science degree in Energy Security and Strategic Studies. At IOGP Europe, Emils focuses on policies and regulations related to upstream O&G sector, including methane emissions mitigation, EU energy markets (incl. SoS, LNG), carbon markets (EU ETS, CBAM, CDRs). 

Close

gro.pgoi@le
Octav Baciu

Octav Baciu

Senior Officer - Energy Climate and Hydrogen
LinkedIn Biography
Octav Baciu
Senior Officer - Energy Climate and Hydrogen

Octav Baciu is a Senior Policy Officer at the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP Europe) in Brussels, working on Energy and Climate policies, focusing on Hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage and post-2030 Framework. With more than seven years of experience in the energy sector, he joined IOGP Europe in 2023 after working for ENGIE Romania.

Octav holds an MBA in Energy from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. He also holds two master’s degrees, in EU Law and EU Governance, and a bachelor’s in administrative sciences.

Close

gro.pgoi@abo
Catarina Santos

Catarina Santos

Senior Officer - Carbon Markets
LinkedIn Biography
Catarina Santos
Senior Officer - Carbon Markets

Catarina Santos is a Senior Policy Officer at the IOGP Europe in Brussels, specializing in Energy and Climate policies. She focuses on key regulatory frameworks, including the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as well as policies on carbon removals.

With seven years of experience in EU policy and regulatory affairs, Catarina joined IOGP Europe in 2024 after working at Galp, where she was involved in external affairs and policy advocacy. Before that, she worked at the Portuguese Energy Regulator, developing expertise in energy markets and regulation.

She holds a Law Degree and a Master’s in European Legal Practice, complemented by specialized training in energy regulation.

Close

gro.pgoi@asc
Enea Belardinelli

Enea Belardinelli

Officer - Funding, Security of Supply
LinkedIn Biography
Enea Belardinelli
Officer - Funding, Security of Supply

Enea is a policy and public affairs professional with prior experience in the cement and industrial machinery sectors, as well as serving as a policy officer for the Italian government. He has published research in scientific journals on EU strategic autonomy and diplomatic history. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Governance Studies.

Enea joined IOGP Europe in 2024, focusing initially on the Net Zero Industry Act and carbon capture and storage (CCS). He leads IOGP Europe’s workstream on funding for energy and decarbonization, and works on security of energy supply and CCS-related policy files.

Enea is fluent in Italian, English, and French, and speaks Spanish at a good level.

Close

gro.pgoi@bne
Olivia Dziedzic

Olivia Dziedzic

Junior Policy Officer
gro.pgoi@zdo

communications

Nareg Terzian

Nareg Terzian

Head of Strategy & Communications - Europe
LinkedIn Biography
Nareg Terzian
Head of Strategy & Communications - Europe

Nareg leads IOGP Europe’s Strategy and Communications work and serves as Secretary of the IOGP European Board and Manager of the IOGP European Committee. His role is to help design IOGP Europe’s overall public affairs strategy, tactics and positioning, and to coordinate the roll-out of advocacy activities in support of IOGP Europe’s regulatory work.  

Nareg has 10 years of European public affairs experience in service of the oil and gas industry. He previously worked as a consultant in a leading European public affairs consultancy’s energy team and in TotalEnergies’ European Affairs division in Brussels. 

Nareg is fluent in French, English, Armenian and Italian, and holds a Master’s degree in European Studies. 

 

Close

gro.pgoi@ztn
Håkon Fonseca Nordang

Håkon Fonseca Nordang

Senior Manager, Communications
LinkedIn gro.pgoi@onh
Beri Retief

Beri Retief

Officer Marketing and Communications
LinkedIn Biography
Beri Retief
Officer Marketing and Communications

Beri is a South African Officer of Marketing & Communications at IOGP Europe since November 2024. He completed a Bachelor’s of Social Sciences and a Master’s of Journalism and Media in Europe at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Since graduating he has specialized in digital marketing, content creation and copywriting while. He strives to create a mix of algorithmic understanding and evocative storytelling in both his professional and personal projects. 

He speaks English and Afrikaans fluently and also speaks Dutch. During his free time he writes fantasy adventures for Dungeons and Dragons and puts his film school knowledge to use in personal video projects. 

Close

gro.pgoi@erb
Romain Kriebus

Romain Kriebus

Data Analyst, Junior Officer
LinkedIn Biography
Romain Kriebus
Data Analyst, Junior Officer

Romain is a Junior Data Analyst at IOGP Europe, with a background in international economics, banking and finance. He specialises in data analysis, statistical and econometrics modelling, with a particular interest in energy and food markets as well as economics policy.

 

Before joining IOGP Europe, he gained experience at the Belgian Federal Public Service Economy.

Close

gro.pgoi@rkr

outreach

Iskren Kirilov

Iskren Kirilov

Head of Institutional Relations - Europe
LinkedIn Biography
Iskren Kirilov
Head of Institutional Relations - Europe

Iskren Kirilov is the Head of Institutional Relations at IOGP Europe, bringing with him a wealth of experience and expertise in public diplomacy and policy advising. With a bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from the University of Sofia, a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and a recently completed PhD in Science and Technology for Innovation from the University of Cagliari, Iskren Kirilov possesses a strong academic background.

His career spans pivotal roles, including Policy Officer at the European Commission, Expert at the European Economic and Social Committee, Senior Policy Advisor at EURASHE, and Director of International Affairs at Fundación San Pablo Andalucía CEU, before assuming his current position at IOGP Europe. 

Close

gro.pgoi@ki
Gabrielle Lelievre

Gabrielle Lelievre

Institutional Relations and Communications Manager
LinkedIn Biography
Gabrielle Lelievre
Institutional Relations and Communications Manager

Gabrielle is a public affairs professional with a focus on strategic communications in the European energy sector. She currently serves at IOGP Europe as ‘Institutional Relations and Communications Manager’. She joined the Brussels team in September 2024, where she facilitates dialogue between industry leaders and institutional stakeholders to shape informed energy policy.

Prior to this, Gabrielle spent more than four years at Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), the European association gathering LNG, storage, and transmission operators, where she coordinated the development of the comms and public affairs strategy to elevate the profile of the industry in EU policy discourse.

Her earlier experience includes coordinating activities in the European Parliament under MEP Jerzy Buzek’s leadership, where she managed stakeholder engagement, policy exchange and comms campaigns within the framework of the European Energy Forum (EEF). In this capacity, she curated and executed cross-institutional initiatives that brought together Members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials, regulators, and senior industry figures to foster evidence-based policy discussions.

 

 

 

Close

gro.pgoi@elg
Maxime Abou Tara

Maxime Abou Tara

Senior Institutional Relations Officer
LinkedIn Biography
Maxime Abou Tara
Senior Institutional Relations Officer

Before joining IOGP Europe, Maxime completed a Bluebook Traineeship in the Cabinet of VP Maroš Šefčovič at the European Commission, gaining hands-on experience in governmental affairs, energy policy, and legislative processes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from the European School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL), complementing his Master’s degree in International and European Studies held at Sciences Po Strasbourg. Additionally, Maxime has held trainee roles at GardaWorld, focusing on private security business activities, and at the Embassy of Belgium in Lebanon, where he engaged in political and economic analysis. 

Close

gro.pgoi@tam

Admin

Pierre-Henri van de Putte

Pierre-Henri van de Putte

Head of Finance & Administration - Europe
LinkedIn Biography
Pierre-Henri van de Putte
Head of Finance & Administration - Europe

Pierre-Henri van de Putte, is Head of Finance and Administration, IOGP Europe. With over 30 years experience in management with both large Belgian banks and associations, Pierre-Henri’s expertise has been acquired within financial and administration environments in various responsibilities ranging from finances, sales, marketing, communication and project management. Enthusiastic and empathetic, Pierre-Henri is a problem solver, loving to take up challenges with the team, sharing what he has learned and looking for continuous improvements. He also is a happy father of 4. 

Close

gro.pgoi@php
Nathalie Ballaux

Nathalie Ballaux

Administration Manager
LinkedIn Biography
Nathalie Ballaux
Administration Manager

With 27 years of experience mainly in accounting and HR in both private and non-profit organizations, Nathalie joined IOGP Europe back in November 2023 as an Admin Manager. With expertise in Belgian personal income tax legal audit and counselling, she is a certified member of the European Register of Tax Advisors. Nathalie holds a master’s degree in law from KU Leuven, with a specialization in fiscal law from the ICHEC Brussels School of Management. She is fluent in Dutch, English, French, and German. She is also the happy mother of two and has been a 4 times Belgian tennis champion. 

Close

gro.pgoi@abn
Mariam Boulaouane

Mariam Boulaouane

Junior Administration Officer
LinkedIn Biography
Mariam Boulaouane
Junior Administration Officer

Mariam Boulaouane is a Junior Administration Officer, bringing solid skills in communication, administration, and event organization.

Recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Public Relations, she also completed a final thesis on the digitalization of professional events. Mariam has gained practical experience supporting administrative processes and coordinating events, contributing to efficient office operations and smooth internal and external communication.

Close

gro.pgoi@obm
Anouch Vanesyan

Anouch Vanesyan

Junior Administration Officer
gro.pgoi@ava