AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, in partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas, will host business, geoscience and government leaders from 14 Latin American countries at its Latin American Forum on Energy and the Environment in Rio de Janeiro.
The forum brings together public and private sector leaders from Latin America and the United States to seek ways to strengthen hemispheric ties. Speakers and topics at the July 9-11 event include:
- Maria Antoniêta de Souza, from Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, on Brazil’s leadership in renewable biofuels.
- John Briceño, deputy prime minister of Belize, on Belize’s attempts to regulate and exploit recently discovered energy reserves.
- Walter Cruickshank, deputy director of the U.S. Minerals Management Service, on lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Guilherme de Oliveira Estrella, managing director for exploration and production (EandP) of Petrobras, on challenges for the future of EandP.
- Charles Groat, director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the Jackson School, on balancing polices for the environment and resource development.
- Newton Monteiro, director of Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, on Brazilian regulation of EandP Activities.
- Roberto Urquizo, Ecuador’s deputy minister of environmental quality, on opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas in Ecuador.
Leaders of exploration and production from four energy firms—Chevron Corporation, Devon Energy Corporation, Petrobras and Statoil—will make presentations on their companies’ experiences in Brazil.
Forum attendees include nine Latin American ministers and agency directors of the environment, six Latin American ministers and agency directors of energy and minerals, leaders of energy exploration from 10 of the world’s major energy firms working in Latin America, and a range of other scientists and policy figures.
The inaugural forum convened in Austin in 2005.
“Brazil is a fitting location for our second forum because of its lessons for other countries in the Americas,” said William L. Fisher, dean of the Jackson School. Brazil began to open up its once nationalized oil and gas industry in 1997, and the country has since become known as an attractive place for foreign investment. Over the same period, Brazil became the world leader in production and consumption of biofuels. The country achieved energy self-sufficiency this year.
For a complete list of participants and the forum agenda see the Latin American Forum Web site.
For more information contact: J.B. Bird, Jackson School of Geosciences, 512-350-7512.
