Last April 12, ARPEL was part of the discussion board "Volatility in fuel prices: challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean", coordinated by the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade).

The debate started by pointing out that the current international context has once again produced volatility in hydrocarbon prices, which have an impact worldwide, including our Region. This volatility leads, on the one hand, to an increase in the income of hydrocarbon-producing countries, but on the other hand it causes importing countries to suffer tensions in their budgets and public accounts, as they face higher expenditures to import fuels.

The discussion board consisted of two panels: the first, with the participation of agencies, international institutions, think-tanks, academia and independent experts, and the second, which brought together officials from some Latin American and Caribbean countries.

ARPEL was part of the first panel of the day, and the speakers were Jorge León, Energy Economist at British Petroleum; Leonardo Beltrán, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy; Jeremy Martin, VP Energy and Sustainability at the Institute of the Americas; Ali Al-Saffar, Programme Manager for Middle East and North Africa at IEA, and Carlos Garibaldi, Executive Secretary of ARPEL.

It was moderated by Alfonso Blanco, Executive Secretary of Olade.