Building on last year’s success, the 2nd Annual Latin Oil & Gas Summit, took place from the 27 - 28 June 2012 in Miami, USA. The event attracted over 120 senior level attendees from over 20 countries.

Over the course of the two day conference, delegates heard from governments, national and international oil companies as well as service companies from the region. Discussions focused on the strategic plans for growth, advancements in technology, external funding and knowledge transfer, all which are required in order for the region to realize its full potential.

Resource development is becoming more collaborative, witness the record number of leases throughout the region that are being tendered while technology is driving the development of the deep-water and unconventional resources.

As part of Mexico’s efforts to develop the deep water operations,’ Dr Edgar Rangel German, Commissioner, National Hydrocarbon Commission, announced at the summit the mayor challenges faced by his country to tap into the 681 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources that include: financing of projects, access to technologies, growth of human capital and development of infrastructure.

The Venezuela oil and gas industry took centre stage on the first day of the summit, and was discussed at length by Dr Francisco Monaldi, Director of the International Center on Energy & the Environment, IESA. He stated that upstream capacity had declined over the past years but that the recent increase in upstream operations in the country aimed to raise production by some 500 mbpd, highlighting an estimated investment of $10 billion, earmarked by the JVs to go into infrastructure development to further open the Orinoco belt resources.

The Latin Oil & Gas Summit, recognised the importance of community engagement, technological innovation and infrastructure in the development of the oil and gas industry in the region.

In the afternoon of the second day of the conference heard the timely and informative address from Minister Eng Guillermo Coco, Ministry of Energy, Environment & Public Services, Government of the Province of Neuquén, who highlighted the huge unconventional potential of the Neuquén Basin and drew attention to an ambitious plan to duplicate current production levels by 2017. He emphasized that Neuquen currently has the basic infrastructure to develop the region for the next three to four years and the main focus at the moment is in developing a water management strategy to permit the achievement of the production objectives.

It was widely agreed over the two days of the huge resources available in the region from Argentina to Mexico but it comes with a number of risk and challenges associated from one country to other one. Barclay Hambrook, President, CEO & Director, Americas Petrogas presented the following graphic to demonstrate the enormity of the potential unconventional resources in Argentina by comparing the shale play in the Neuquén Basing to the shale plays in US.

The Latin Oil & Gas Summit looks forward to providing an annual forum which puts recent achievements and gains, the severe challenges still being faced within the region as well as the increasing number of opportunities to grow the vibrant Latin America oil and gas industry into perspective. One can say with a great deal of certainty "the most interesting chapter is just beginning"

About the CWC Group

The Latin Oil & Gas Summit is organized by The CWC Group, an award-winning company which specialises in energy and infrastructure, developing knowledge, creating commercial opportunities and strategic solutions for government and industry by offering professional training, conferences and exhibitions.

Gustavo Aranda
Senior Marketing Manager
The CWC Group +44 20 7978 0081
Garanda@thecwcgroup.com
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This release was published on openPR.