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Energy and Commodities

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SEDA Experts

Energy &

Commodities

Seasoned professionals with comprehensive expertise spanning trading, derivatives, hedging, transportation, contract negotiation, risk management, pricing strategies, and regulatory compliance across global energy and commodities markets.

PRACTICE AREA  · EXPERT WITNESS & CONSULTING

Related Experts

About this practice

PRACTICE OVERVIEW

SEDA's Energy and Commodities practice comprises a team of seasoned professionals with comprehensive expertise spanning trading, derivatives, hedging, transportation, contract negotiation (e.g., freight agreements), risk management, pricing strategies, and regulatory compliance.

Our experts leverage quantitative and fundamental analysis for physical and financial commodities instruments. Their skillset extends beyond trading to valuation, pricing, origination, fundamental analysis, operations, and associated derivatives.

Our team also brings significant expertise in the infrastructure underpinning commodities markets, including railways, ports, mines, transportation, freight, and storage — as well as former regulatory experience at the CFTC providing an essential enforcement perspective.

SEDA operates across the full spectrum of energy and commodities engagements — providing expert witness testimony in FERC, CFTC, and international arbitration proceedings involving price manipulation, benchmark integrity, and trading conduct, while also advising energy companies, trading firms, and financial institutions as consulting experts on risk management frameworks, contract dispute strategy, and regulatory compliance in physical and financial energy markets.

WHY SEDA

Former global heads of commodities trading at Goldman Sachs, EuroChem, and Trafigura — with direct experience across power, gas, oil, dry freight, iron ore, fertilizers, and emissions.

Former CFTC Commissioner and senior regulatory counsel — adding essential enforcement and compliance perspective to energy and commodities disputes.

Deep expertise in physical and financial commodities instruments — covering quantitative analysis, valuation, pricing, origination, and infrastructure including railways, ports, and storage.

SUB-PRACTICE  AREAS

Areas of expertise

01

Physical Commodities Trading

Related: Alternative Asset Classes · Risk Management

02

Derivatives & Financial Instruments

Related: Securities & Derivatives · Alternative Assets

Physical trading of power, gas, oil, dry freight, iron ore, fertilizers, biomass, emissions, petroleum coke, and thermal and metallurgical coal across global markets.

Expert opinions on commodities market infrastructure including railways, ports, mines, transportation, freight logistics, and storage — covering operational standards and contractual obligations.

03

Infrastructure & Logistics

Related: Risk Management · Asset Servicing

Analysis of commodity derivatives — futures, forwards, options, swaps, and structured products — including pricing, valuation, hedging strategies, and dispute resolution.

04

Regulatory & Enforcement

Related: Investigation & Regulatory Enforcement

Former CFTC Commissioner and senior counsel provide essential enforcement and compliance perspective on CFTC proceedings, position limits, manipulation claims, and regulatory investigations.

Related Experts
Dawn Stump

Dawn Stump

Bio

Managing Director

Dawn Stump is a seasoned financial executive and regulatory leader, recently serving as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Her work has spanned all asset classes, with a focus on business continuity, supply chain disruptions, cyber risk, emerging assets including crypto, data protection, and climate-related market risks.

Former 

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) - Commissioner

Futures Industry Association - Executive Director Americas’ Advisory Board

Kathryn Porter

Kathryn Porter

Bio

Managing Director

Kathryn Porter is an independent energy consultant with 25+ years of experience across the energy and finance sectors. She specializes in utilities, oil and gas, and has broad expertise in equities, debt capital markets, M&A, loans, and risk management.

Former

Société Générale - Director, Commodities Structuring

EDF Trading - Head of Structuring & Pricing

Bruno Roch

Bruno Roch

Bio

Managing Director

Bruno Roch has over 20 years of experience in energy markets covering both physical and derivatives transactions and has overseen global trading activities within Goldman Sachs and Trafigura amongst others. He is a world-class expert in Power, Gas, Dry Freight, Iron Ore, Fertilizers, Biomass, Emissions, Petroleum Coke, Thermal and Metallurgical Coal.

Former 

EuroChem and Suek - Head of Commodity Trading

Goldman Sachs - Senior Executive Director, Coal & Freight 

Ian Mote

Ian Mote

Bio

Managing Director

Ian Mote has over a quarter-century of expertise in international finance and banking, with a focus on Structured Trade and Commodity Finance, treasury management, and trade finance within global markets. Ian spent 20 years working with Standard Chartered Bank, where his career included significant roles in Europe, the Middle East, and Greater China.

Former 

Standard Chartered Bank (China) - Executive Director, Head of Multinational Corporates

Senior Credit Officer, Commodities & Trade Finance

Executive Director, Head of Commodity Traders & Agribusiness

Adam Zurofsky

Adam Zurofsky

Bio

Managing Director

Adam Zurofsky is a recognized leader in clean energy, climate policy, and sustainable finance, with experience across government, academia, nonprofit leadership, and private practice. He has played a key role in advancing major U.S. and state-level decarbonization initiatives.

Former

State of New York- Director, Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub; Director of State Policy and Agency Management; Deputy Secretary of Energy and Finance, New York State Executive Chamber

Richard Jefferson

Richard Jefferson

Bio

Managing Director

Richard Jefferson is a former Global Head of Commodities Trading at Deutsche Bank with over 25 years of financial markets experience. He spent 19 years at Deutsche Bank in London and New York as a Foreign Exchange Derivatives Trader and then helped to build the energy trading franchise in North American Power and Gas, Oil and Refined Products.

Former

Deutsche Bank - Managing Director, Global Head of Commodities Trading


Wenzel Schwabenland

Wenzel Schwabenland

Bio

Managing Director

Dipl.-Ing. Wenzel Schwabenland is a naval architect, marine surveyor and forensic engineer with over two decades of experience across multiple sectors of the maritime industry. His career spans technical leadership roles, casualty investigations, expert witness work, and strategic advisory for shipowners and financial institutions.

Former

SophusQuorum, Barcelona, Spain - Forensic Engineer / Naval Architect

360Marine Pte Ltd, Singapore - Executive Partner and Managing Director


Alastair McIntyre

Alastair McIntyre

Bio

Managing Director

Alastair McIntyre is an expert in mining, and precious and base metals markets. He has extensive experience across metals banking and trading, physical and derivative metals transactions, mine development, royalty transactions, off-take and metal loan agreements, capital raising, M&A, IPO advisory, and technical and financial due diligence.

Former

Behre Dolbear - Senior Managing Director 

Landsbankinn - Director, Commodity Trade Finance


Barry Bednar

Barry Bednar

Bio

Managing Director

Barry Bednar is a maritime and commodity markets expert with over 35 years of experience in tanker shipping, chartering, freight derivatives, and freight risk management. He has extensive experience across physical shipping markets, spot and term chartering, Forward Freight Agreements, Baltic Exchange route assessments, and the interaction between freight market fundamentals and derivative pricing.

Former

BGC Partners - Director, Shipping Division

The Baltic Exchange - Chairman of the Baltic Exchange Freight Market Information Users Group


Randy O’Connor

Randy O’Connor

Bio

Managing Director

Randy O’Connor is an accomplished energy expert with over 20 years of experience originating, structuring, and executing complex commodities transactions across the global oil and gas sector, combining structured finance expertise with deep knowledge of physical oil trading.

Former

Citigroup - Managing Director, Head of Structured Transactions in Oil and E&P

Morgan Stanley - Managing Director, Head of Strategic Transactions Group


Thorvin Anderson, CFA

Thorvin Anderson, CFA

Bio

Managing Director

Thorvin Anderson, CFA is a senior energy expert with deep experience in commodity structuring, power and gas trading, and valuation. He has led front-office analytics teams, developed risk frameworks, and provided decision support in trading environments, combining technical and market expertise across the energy sector.

Former

JPMorgan Chase – Executive Director Global Commodities Group 

Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. – Bear Energy - Managing Director

Liz Martin

Liz Martin

Bio

Managing Director

Liz Martin has over 25 years of experience in the oil, gas, and LNG sectors, with expertise across trading, refining, operations, chemicals, upstream strategy, and market economics. She has developed a deep understanding of global energy markets through senior roles at BP Integrated Supply & Trading and through advisory and board-level positions.

Former

BP Integrated Supply & Trading (IST) - Strategy Advisor – Shah Deniz


Gary DeWaal

Gary DeWaal

Bio

Managing Director

Gary DeWaal is a seasoned expert in the law and regulation of futures and related exchanges. He additionally has expertise in securities, derivatives, digital assets, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Former

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP - Senior Counsel

Commodity Futures Trading Commission - Senior Trial Attorney


Robin Shoemaker

Robin Shoemaker

Bio

Managing Director

Robin Shoemaker has over 30 years of experience in equity research focused on the oil and gas industry. Robin’s tenure in energy research started at Lehman Brothers and included a two-year assignment as co-head of Asia Equity Research in Hong Kong.

Former

KeyBanc Capital Markets - Director

Citi Investment Research - Director

Edward J. Fraim Jr.

Edward J. Fraim Jr.

Bio

Managing Director

Edward J. Fraim Jr. has over 25 years of experience in Energy and Financial Derivatives, Futures and Options. As the former Head of ICE Proprietary Data he is an expert in derivatives trading, benchmark price valuations, complex pricing models, commodities risk management, hedging strategies, and supporting technologies.

Former

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) - Vice President, Head of ICE Proprietary Data

Refinitiv -  Head of North American Commodities & Energy Market Data Business

Craig A. Fox

Craig A. Fox

Bio

Managing Director

Craig Fox is a petroleum engineer with extensive experience in the upstream oil and gas industry with a focus on technical support for structured finance transactions. Direct operations experience and management of technical teams complements his skills in evaluating a wide range of projects across the industry.

Former

Apollo Global Management - Managing Director, Petroleum Engineer

Guggenheim Partners, LLC - Director, Petroleum Engineer

Enron North America - Vice President, Technical Team

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