ARPEL participated in the panel “How Oil Companies Are Preparing for a Decarbonized Future” within the framework of the VII LATAM Renewables Congress and 1st WEC Congress, Uruguay Chapter, organized on September 15 and 16 by the Uruguayan Association of Renewable Energies (AUDER).

The panel members were Nicolás Spinelli from ANCAP, Silvina Oberti from YPF, and Irene Alfaro, Downstream Director of ARPEL.

Alfaro’s speech was focused on the role of the oil and gas industry in energy transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Today, our energy transition strategic goals aim at generating a common understanding on energy transitions among our companies, identifying the associated opportunities and risks, supporting our members in adapting to the new business scenario, and strengthening our position at the most relevant discussion forums,” she said.

In 2020, ARPEL released the White Paper “Energy Transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean - The Role of the Oil and Gas Industry.” The document (freely accessible and available on our website: https://arpel.org/library/publication/519/) is a very important commitment of private and state-owned ARPEL companies, and is the only one that reflects the position of a highly significant segment of the oil and gas industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, to support the energy transition process.

According to Alfaro, the energy mixes of the countries in the region are very diverse, depending on their resources, infrastructure, economic development level, geography, climate, demographics, productive system, institutional configuration and cultural aspects regarding energy consumption, among others. As a result, each country has a very different starting point with respect to energy transitions and will therefore have to follow a unique path considering its specificities.”

According to the International Energy Agency, more than 40% of the emission reductions required to comply with the Paris Agreement might come from energy efficiency in the power, transport, industry, building and infrastructure sectors.

On this particular, Alfaro said that “technological innovation will be key to achieving the transition to a low-carbon economy, and both the industry and governments have a role to play here.”

“The document makes it clear that a fundamental part of the energy transition process is cooperation among all players, i.e., national governments, public companies, private sector, civil society, academia, financial sector and international organizations. The characteristics and implementation schedules of the roadmaps for energy transitions are unique to each country. However, there are several common factors,” she said.

“ARPEL is ready to support the acceleration of the energy transition process through dynamic cooperation and integration, as required by the energy industry and the markets in the region,” Alfaro concluded.