Mark Elliott

Chairman Emeritus

Founder of CITAC Africa in 1998, Mark has over 50 years of energy business experience with most of his career focused on Africa.

Prior to CITAC Mark was President of Vitol Africa (1993 – 1998) and before that was Vice President of Chevron International for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, having spent 6 years heading Chevron’s West and Central Africa regional office in Abidjan and being General Manager for Gulf Oil’s worldwide crude oil operations. As Chairman at CITAC, Mark calls upon his rich experience in Africa and extensive industry knowledge to devise business strategies.

Mark also worked in finance and marketing for Total (1967-72) and was a consultant with Booz – Allen & Hamilton (1972-77). A British citizen he spent 12 years in the USA and has also lived and worked in Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Switzerland and Italy.

David Bleasdale

Chairman

David has over 40 years senior management experience in petroleum supply chain efficiency, sales, oil retailing, marketing, trading and supply with the Total group.

Since joining CITAC in 2008, he has led various commercial and technical feasibility studies on African refinery de-bottlenecking and upgrading investment projects, market sizing for new refineries, oil product import and export options, and import price parity regulation.

He has written CITAC Insight articles on Fuel Oil in Africa, Biofuels, Physical and Trade Barriers to African Supply Chain optimisation, and Risk Management in the African Downstream Sector.

Gary Still

Managing Director

Gary has over 30 years of experience in the oil business in marketing, trading and supply with the Shell group and Trafigura. Throughout his career he has travelled extensively in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Joining CITAC in 1999 shortly after its inception, Gary has been heavily involved in the development and promotion of the company both inside and outside of Africa. He has participated in several commercial and technical feasibility studies on African oil products storage depots, fuel feedstock supply options, market entry studies, supply chain logistics and refinery crude processing.

Drawing on an extensive network of contacts in Africa and the international oil trading community, Gary has a responsibility for business origination, market intelligence and client liaison. He is a regular contributor to the CITAC Africa monthly market report.

Elitsa Georgieva

Executive Director

Elitsa has extensive experience in managing projects across the downstream oil sector in Africa and delivering insights that support clients’ decision-making and policy formation processes.

Elitsa focuses on project management and consultancy and has also as set up and oversees CITAC’s short- and long-term product demand and supply forecasts for all countries in Africa, and trade balances for the continent and its sub-regions. Elitsa joined CITAC in 2005 from KBC Process Technologies (formerly Petroleum Economics Ltd.) and has led many commercial and economic studies on various African markets and energy sector infrastructure projects.

Elitsa is currently heading CITAC’s expansion into the gas and power sectors in Africa, as well as overseeing the company’s consultancy services. Elitsa holds M.Litt (Distinction) in Middle East Security from the University of Aberdeen, BA (Hons) in Economics and BA (Hons) Political Science and International Relations from the American University in Bulgaria, supplemented by advanced training in oil trading and risk management and membership of various professional organisations, including the Energy Institute.

James McCullagh

Executive Director

James has 15 years of experience in the African downstream. He has particular expertise in investment appraisal, competition analysis, price build-ups and clean cooking, having worked on multiple projects for oil ministries, refineries, marketers, trading houses, international organisations and banks, with a focus on West and Central Africa. James worked as a Senior Analyst for CITAC between 2008 and 2015, and rejoined the company in 2019 as a Director. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and fluent French speaker.

Richard Augood

Data Manager

As well as developing and maintaining CITAC’s award-winning Africa Downstream Database and looking after CITAC’s IT and communications systems, Richard is also a key member of CITAC’s consulting team.

Since joining CITAC in 2007 Richard has made regular contributions to CITAC’s reports and studies. Richard has acquired particular expertise regarding product specifications and has worked closely with UNEP and the African Refiners Association on projects in this field. Richard also has particular input to CITAC’s studies in the area of refining, storage and distribution infrastructure.

Prior to joining CITAC’s team, Richard had two spells working for Platts in the IT and editorial divisions.

Jeremy Parker

Head of Business Development

Since joining CITAC in 2013, Jeremy has both led and supported a wide range of consulting projects on the African continent including market entry, feasibility, best practise and market intelligence studies. Jeremy has developed detailed expertise in West and Central African downstream market dynamics and covers these extensively in CITAC’s reports, as well as providing support on these markets to CITAC’s retainer clients.

Prior to joining CITAC, Jeremy worked at PFC Energy (now IHS) in Paris as a downstream energy market analyst. Jeremy speaks English, French & Russian.

Laure Liarçou

Marketing Manager

Laure manages marketing activities related to CITAC’s energy market reports, regular and bespoke – inhouse and online – training courses, workshops, studies, and PR actions, developing CITAC’s brand.

Among her responsibilities, Laure leads the development and the coordination of CITAC’s training programme, specialised in Africa trading, including the CITAC African Downstream Workshops held during ARDA WEEK. She is also the prime contact with one of CITAC’s main retainer clients, the ARDA (African Refiners and Distributors Association).

Prior to CITAC, Laure worked in several administrative positions across London. More recently, Laure completed her MSc in Political Sciences from the University of London. Laure speaks fluent English and French.

Sophie Bleasdale

Energy Data Analyst

Sophie first joined CITAC as an intern in 2021 having studied for a BA (Hons) Human Geography at the University of Exeter. As part of her degree she undertook research and socio-economic data analysis, learning to handle and analyse large quantities of data. Since joining CITAC full-time, Sophie has worked on core data collection and contributes to CITAC’s reports, Country Overviews and projects.

Chantal Bailly-Chaplin

Finance Manager

Chantal is our head of accounts responsible for overseeing, analysing and forecasting business revenue and expenditure. She works closely with the CITAC Directors and the African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARDA) to produce financial reports that guide strategy and enable sound decision making.

As a teenager living in France, Chantal founded her own language school and sat on the committee of her town’s Chamber of Commerce. After attaining her degree from the University of Poitiers, she relocated to the UK to pursue a career in finance. Before joining CITAC in 2008, she held the positions of Credit Control Manager for Thermos, Financial Controller for an IT services company and Head of Operations for a national property company. Chantal is bilingual in English and French.

Clemmie Goulding

Administrative Coordinator

Clemmie joined our team in August 2023 after graduating from the University of Bristol with a degree in French and Spanish. As part of her degree she studied in Zaragoza, Spain and worked in an office role in Toulouse, France. Before joining us Clemmie worked in other administrative roles in London. At CITAC she is responsible for overseeing essential administrative tasks and assisting with the organisation of the training courses.

Jessica Huntington

Accounts Assistant

Jessica joined the team in September 2024 having graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an MA (Hons) in Arabic and Spanish. As part of her degree, she studied in Cairo, Egypt and is bilingual in English and French. Prior to joining us, Jessica worked in several administrative roles across London. At CITAC, Jessica is responsible for maintaining our purchase ledger and supporting our Finance Manager with bookkeeping tasks.

Suzanne Taylor

BUSINESS AND TRAINING CONSULTANT

Suzanne has 12 years of experience in the oil industry. She worked in the London trading office of TOTAL S.A. for six years, including two years specialising in Risk Management with the responsibility for planning and delivering management training programmes. In addition to her oil industry credentials, Suzanne is also qualified as a lecturer in adult education. She is a guest lecturer at the IPE (International Petroleum Exchange).

Neil Fleming

MARKETS AND TRAINING CONSULTANT

Neil has 20 years experience in the energy industry. Neil was the Vice-President of Information and Trading Services at Platts, and previously, Editorial Vice-President. Experienced in project management, market design and price discovery, Neil was responsible for Platts’ expansion into the power and gas sectors in Europe, and changes in market pricing, including the Brent-Forties-Oseberg Benchmark. A former journalist, he has worked extensively in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle East.

George Dikker Hupkes

BUSINESS CONSULTANT

George has 30 years of oil experience in Marketing and General Management. He has worked with Shell International in both East and West Africa as well as in the Far East. George was latterly Change Manager for Shell Oil Products for the North, West and East African regions.

Hugh Goldsmith

BUSINESS CONSULTANT

Hugh has 30 years of oil management experience in marketing and logistics with the emphasis on economically disturbed markets in Africa and the Caribbean. He has worked with Shell International in Togo, Haiti, Uganda, Chile, Kenya, Japan, the UK, Hong Kong and Thailand. Most recently Hugh has been operating as Managing Director of Trigon Energy in Ghana.

David Crabbe

BUSINESS CONSULTANT

David has 16 years experience in the energy industry gained with TOTAL in a variety of project management, marketing, planning and analysis roles. This includes three years as a Strategy and Development Executive for Refining and Distribution specialising in assessing investment and divestment opportunities. In addition to his oil industry credentials, David has also project managed the development of fraud detection systems for a UK retailer.

Robert Cosic

REFINING CONSULTANT

Bob is a chartered chemical engineer with over 30 years oil industry experience in Fuels and Lubricants. He has held positions in senior business management, corporate and market strategy development, process engineering, refinery planning and HSEQ with Mobil, Amoco, Murco, Elf and Total in Europe and Africa. He is a guest lecturer at the South African Petroleum Industry Association Development Programme and the Minerals and Energy Education Training Institute.

Hubert Charbonneau

REFINING CONSULTANT

Hubert has spent all his working life in refining for the TOTAL group. He was in charge of all Total’s refining outside Europe and has detailed knowledge of many African refineries through Technical Assistance contracts. He has also been involved in state-of-the-art refining projects such as synthetic crude upgrading in Venezuela, tar sands refining in Alberta, the Qatar Laffan condensate refinery and refining projects in China. He brings considerable commercial experience to add to his technical refining skills.