Robert is a journalist with over 20 years of experience covering finance, business, economics, and energy industry issues. Full Bio

Robert is a journalist with over 20 years of experience covering finance, business, economics, and energy industry issues. Robert has taken skills from the high-pressure, real-time news environment to develop as a writer, editor, and a data journalist with visualization skills.

Robert currently works in the editorial team covering oil news at S&P Global Commodity Insights where he edits regional news content for Platts' flagship daily newsletter Oilgram News.  He works with a range of digital media formats for web content commissioning, coordinating, and curating content from a team of global journalists.   Minimize

Lilit's responsible for analyzing the macroeconomic, political, security, and business environment of Russia and the former Soviet republics. Full Bio

Lilit's responsible for analyzing the macroeconomic, political, security, and business environment of Russia and the former Soviet republics. She has lived and worked in Armenia, Russia, Ukraine and the US. As a regular contributor to major media outlets, including frequent guest appearances on BBC Radio Four's Today Show and newscasts, she participates in broadcasts by CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera, among others. She has been quoted in numerous print and online publications. Prior to joining IHS Markit (now part of S&P Global), in 2009, Lilit had gained knowledge of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) risk environment during her time at the Eurasia House at Cambridge University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), LSE Enterprise and the United Nations. Earlier in her career, she worked for the ministries of foreign affairs and economy in Armenia and she was press relations officer at the Armenian Diplomatic Mission in London.

Lilit completed a Diploma from NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, gaining a focus on conflict resolution. Lilit's university degrees include a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Yerevan State University, Armenia, as well as a Master of Science in International Relations and Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom. Minimize

Byron McKinney is the product management director for trade finance and compliance solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence Full Bio

Byron McKinney is the product management director for trade finance and compliance solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence

Byron's focus at S&P Global Market Intelligence is on the automation and simplification of the compliance and workflow process within trade finance. He has over 15 years of experience in trade finance and commodity trading most recently from Accuity, where he led the business team in designing and delivering dual-use goods identification and vessel monitoring for the banking and cargo markets. Previously, he worked at Thomson Reuters in the energy and shipping business with time spent on developing cargo tracking models and price forecasting applications for gas and power. Byron holds a degree in History and Iranian Studies. Minimize

Fotios focuses on the seaborne trade of crude oil and its impacts on the shipping cycles and investors' decisions, drawing from his experience in commercial shipping sectors such as crude oil and oil product tankers, LNG and LPG carriers, MODU and OSV. Full Bio

Fotios focuses on the seaborne trade of crude oil and its impacts on the shipping cycles and investors' decisions, drawing from his experience in commercial shipping sectors such as crude oil and oil product tankers, LNG and LPG carriers, MODU and OSV. Previously, he gained experience in using the latest technology to provide better insights more quickly and more frequently to the shipping industry and to associated finance and insurance providers. As head of research for Affinity Shipping LLP and as shipping analyst for Maritime Strategies International Ltd., he managed big shipping data, developed shipping cycle econometric models, and assisted with advisory projects and valuations for major international shipping banks and financial providers. Fotios regularly attends international shipping industry conferences and has professional experience in operational research and corporate presentations.

He holds a Master of Science in shipping, trade and finance from Cass Business School, City University London, United Kingdom. Minimize