April 2018. The new Board of Directors of the Regional Association of Oil, Gas and Biofuels Sector Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARPEL) is chaired by YPF, while the Vice Chair is shared by PEMEX, ANCAP and Pluspetrol.

The representatives of ARPEL member companies re-elected Carlos Colo of YPF to chair the Association.

Mr. Colo, currently Reserves Auditor of YPF, is a geologist with more than 30 years of experience in exploration and production. He has been in charge of the exploration of Vaca Muerta. He previously served in YPF as Director of E&P Technical Directorate, Director of Las Heras Economic Unit, and General Manager in Colombia.

The office of the Vice Chair, shared by PEMEX, ANCAP and Pluspetrol, will be held by Miguel Ángel Lozada, Deputy Director of Technological Assurance of PEMEX, Benito Piñeiro, Advisor to the Board of Directors of ANCAP, and Roberto Díaz, Senior Vice President of Production Assets of Pluspetrol.

Lozada earned his degree in Petroleum Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his Master's degree in Exploration and Production at the French Institute of Petroleum. He has worked in PEMEX for more than 35 years in different regions and facilities in drilling, production and reservoir engineering.

Piñeiro is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a degree in Business Administration. He served as General Manager of ANCAP from 1996 to March 2005, when he started serving as Advisor to the Board of Directors until today.

Díaz is an oil engineer graduated from the University of America and holds an MBA in Oil & Gas Management from the University of Dundee, Scotland. In 1992, he joined the technical area of associated operations in Ecopetrol, where he developed his career holding positions of greater responsibility. In 2007, he joined Repsol as Production and Development Manager for Peru and subsequently for the Pacific Region, and in 2013, he was appointed Deputy Director of Repsol Russia. In 2015, he joined Pluspetrol as Vice President of Operations, and is currently Senior Vice President of Production Assets.

The new Board of Directors of ARPEL was elected at the Annual Assembly of Representatives held March 20 in Mexico City.

The Board of Directors is also made up of other seven member companies: Enap, IHS-Markit, Petrobras, Petropar, Petroperú, Repsol, and Spectrum.

The members of the Fiscal Commission for the period 2018-2019 were also elected: Sara Salazar of Recope as Chair, and Alberto Tasias Valls of Tema, and Winston Watson of PCJ.

ARPEL is a non-profit association gathering companies and institutions of the oil, gas and biofuels sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was founded in 1965 as a vehicle for cooperation and mutual assistance among companies in the sector, with the primary purpose of actively promoting industry integration and competitive growth, and the sustainable energy development in the region.

Membership currently represents over 90% of the upstream and downstream activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and includes national and international operating companies, providers of technology, goods and services for the value chain, and national and international institutions in the sector.