Conflict in the Crosshairs: Board Oversight Amid U.S.-Iran War

Virtual  |  April 16, 2026  |  11:30 AM - 12:45 PM CDT

On April 16, 2026, directors examined how boards can navigate geopolitical disruption, protect personnel, and maintain operational resilience during extended conflict. The discussion, moderated by Julie Dill, NACD.DC, and featuring panelists Tina Faraca (TC Energy), Seth Krummrich (Global Guardian), and Ben Gonsoulin (Baker Botts), revealed a critical preparedness gap: companies with pre-positioned evacuation plans and duty of care providers moved employees safely within days, while unprepared organizations struggled to respond under duress.

Attendees learned how the first 24 to 48 hours after an incident determine legal exposure for years, requiring boards to drill evidence preservation, insurance notices, and regulatory reporting protocols before crises occur. The conversation explored how Iranian cyber attacks have already pre-positioned inside U.S. networks targeting critical infrastructure, requiring integrated oversight of physical and cyber security rather than siloed IT management.

Participants left understanding that North American LNG capacity faces three- to five-year recovery timelines, that permitting delays—not capital—constrain infrastructure expansion, and that geopolitical disruption is now the operating environment, not the exception boards plan around.

Key Topics Covered

• Crisis preparedness determines outcomes: Companies with pre-positioned evacuation plans, duty of care providers, and go-bags ready moved employees safely within days; unprepared companies scrambled for visas while families sheltered under fire
• First 24-48 hours set legal exposure for years: Evidence preservation, insurance notices, force majeure claims, and regulatory reporting all have strict timelines boards must drill before crises
• Cyber and physical security converge: Iranian attacks already pre-positioned in U.S. networks; boards must ensure OT/SCADA systems are segregated to prevent cyber intrusions from cascading to physical shutdowns
• Energy infrastructure faces 3-5 year recovery: Lost Qatari LNG capacity won't return quickly; North American facilities at 95-100% utilization; permitting delays are the critical bottleneck
• "We're at halftime with this conflict": Boards planning for quick resolution ignore Iran's $250 billion in damage, failing infrastructure, and ongoing instability
• Disruption is the operating environment: Geopolitical risk is persistent, not episodic—boards must shift from monitoring headlines to testing long-term preparedness

Key Takeaways

• On preparedness: "If you have a plan, resources, and time, you get the outcome you want; if you don't, you fail the math problem every time"
• On duty of care: Must be "one-button solution" integrating cyber, physical security, and global reach—tracking alone "just admires the problem, doesn't solve it"
• On legal obligations: Turn off auto-delete, implement hold notices, coordinate with legal counsel early—evidence preservation starts immediately
• On cyber threats: Iran has pre-positioned attacks targeting critical infrastructure (water, energy); boards need leading indicators, not just compliance reports
• On board governance: Add geopolitical conflict to enterprise risk frameworks; board minutes must show directors identified risks and responded to red flags
• On crisis response: Tabletop exercises reveal gaps written plans don't show; create crisis escalation matrices before incidents occur

Practical Actions Directors Can Take

• Review duty of care coverage: Does your provider operate in Level 4 conflict zones and integrate cyber, physical, and travel security?
• Conduct crisis management exercise: When was the last one? Did it involve all functions, vendors, and legal counsel?
• Stress-test incident response through tabletop scenarios: "This happens—what do you do next?" reveals whether management knows their roles
• Assess OT/SCADA system segregation: How confident are we that cyber intrusion can't cascade to physical shutdown?
• Create crisis escalation matrices in advance: Define when management handles, when board is informed, when board decides
• Update enterprise risk frameworks and public company disclosures to reflect current geopolitical threats

Program Videos

Conflict in the Crosshairs: Board Oversight Amid U.S.-Iran War (Full Program Video) | Recorded April 16, 2026

What Boards Are Underestimating About the U.S.-Iran War | Recorded April 16, 2026

Evacuating 4,200 People in 10 Days: What Prepared Companies Did Differently | Recorded April 16, 2026

The Legal Playbook for When Assets Are Hit | Recorded April 16, 2026

How North American LNG Is Responding to the Crisis — and What's Still Holding It Back | Recorded April 16, 2026

Iran's Cyber Playbook — and What Boards of Energy Companies Should Do About It | Recorded April 16, 2026

What Adequate Board Oversight Actually Looks Like Right Now | Recorded April 16, 2026

The Governance Questions Every Board Should Be Asking Today | Recorded April 16, 2026

We're Only at Halftime: What Boards Need to Do Now | Recorded April 16, 2026

Program Resources

BAKER BOTTS

• Legal Considerations When Transacting Commercial Aircraft Portfolio Acquisitions and Financings in the Midst of War
• The Law of War - Legal Implications of the Iran Conflict: Oil and Gas Trading
• The Law of War - War and Energy Emergencies

GLOBAL GUARDIAN

• Assessing Duty of Care in Crisis Response
• 2026 Worldwide Threat Assessment
• 4 Stages of a Crisis: What Every Security Leader Should Know 
• Executive Travel Risk: What Boards Need to Know about Duty of Care 
• Middle East Escalation: Economic Pressure & Global Spillover

NACD

• 2026 Governance Outlook
• Directorship Magazine: Spring 2026 Issue
• New Release: Director’s Handbook on Cyber-Risk Oversight - Fifth Edition

Panelists

Director, Rayonier Advanced Materials, Sterling Infrastructure, Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Centuri Holdings, NACD Texas TriCities Chapter

Julie Dill, NACD.DC

Julie Dill most recently served as the Chief Communications Officer for Spectra Energy Corp. (Spectra), which operated in three key areas of the natural gas industry: transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing...

Read Full Bio

Executive Vice-President & COO, Natural Gas Pipelines, TC Energy; Director, UGI Corporation

Tina Faraca

As Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Natural Gas Pipelines, Tina Faraca provides strategic leadership for all commercial, operational, safety & technical services, and project execution aspects of TC Energy’s natural gas transmission and storage businesses across Canada, the United States, and Mexico...

Read Full Bio

Partner, Baker Botts

Ben Gonsoulin

Ben Gonsoulin is a trial attorney in the firm's Houston office. Ben represents clients in high-stakes, complex litigation and focuses his practice on energy, mass action, incident response, and environmental matters...

Read Full Bio

Vice President, Client Risk Management, Global Guardian

Seth Krummrich

Seth Krummrich is the Vice President of Client Risk Management at Global Guardian. A decorated former U.S. Army Colonel with a 28-year career, Seth has both executed and overseen special operations in uncertain and dangerous environments...

Read Full Bio