The new energy reality will be the main theme of ARPEL Oil and Gas Conference 2017 which will be held April 25-27, 2017 at the Conrad Hotel in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

In its fifth edition, this important regional event will bring together presidents of major companies and leading authorities in the region, who will present their business and governments’ vision.

The members of the panel of presidents and CEOs will include the President of YPF, Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez; the President of YPFB, Guillermo Acha; the President of Bridas Corporation, Alejandro Bulgheroni; the President for Latin America of Schlumberger, Stephane Vignet; the General Manager of ENAP, Marcelo Tokman, and the President of Tecpetrol, Carlos Ormachea.

The panel of Ministers of Energy will be composed of Juan José Aranguren of Argentina, Luis Alberto Sánchez of Bolivia, Márcio Félix Carvalho Bezerra of Brazil, and Carolina Cosse of Uruguay.

The Conference will also have a business forum focused on the promotion of investment opportunities in exploration and production in which representatives of state entities of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Suriname will participate.

The Minister of Transparency, Supervision and Control of Brazil, Torquato Jardim, will deliver a lecture entitled "Transparency and Fight against Corruption."

The intense agenda of the event, with the participation of renowned exhibitors at the global and regional level, covers a wide range of topics such as: Government strategies to attract investment; prospects for the development of gas reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean; challenges for the upstream sector; the future of the refining and petrochemical industries; and the strategic importance of having an effective industrial cybersecurity program, among others.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARPEL, Carlos Colo, stated, "Latin America has a compelling need to add more citizens to modernity and progress. There are potential resources in the region to support this latent growth. ARPEL intends to be a vehicle for regional integration and cooperation for the development of energy, where each country seems to have a more or less defined profile to address the development of particular energy issues, such as offshore, gas, shale resources and mature fields. This thematic specialization will make cooperation and regional integration easier, and its results will have more impact.”

ARPEL is a non-profit association gathering companies and institutions of the oil, gas and biofuels sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. At present, its membership represents over 90% of the upstream and downstream activities in the region.

For further information on ARPEL Conference 2017, please visit www.conferenciaarpel.org