Arpel-Naturgas Week 2024: energy transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sustainability of the oil and gas industry

Press Release by Arpel  

Arpel, the Association of Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Naturgas, the Colombian Natural Gas Association, are organizing the Arpel-Naturgas Week, thus combining the 7th Arpel Conference with the 26th Naturgas Congress, creating an unprecedented event in the region. 

“Driving just energy transitions for Latin America and the Caribbean” is the motto of this important meeting that will take place from April 8 to 12 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. 

For five days, international experts on energy issues, senior executives from the main oil and gas companies in the region, and government and regulatory authorities from different countries will have the opportunity to discuss the issues that govern the sustainability of the oil and gas industry during and after energy transitions. 

Speakers and panelists will include CEOs, COOs and CFOs from Ecopetrol, Petrobras, YPF, Staatsolie, Enap, Ancap, Cupet, Recope, Petroecuador, Petroperú, NGC de Trinidad & Tobago, Promigas, GeoPark, Frontera, Parex, Hocol, Tecpetrol, TGI, Höegh LNG and Raizen, and regional directors from Shell and TotalEnergies. 

Senior executives and experts from institutions such as IGU, WPC, CAF, IEA, IPIECA, OLADE, IATA, ILO, and the University of Barcelona, as well as from global firms Honeywell, S&P Global, Accenture, Arthur D. Little, Scania, Maersk and Goldman Sachs will also participate in the meeting. 

The presidents of regulatory agencies such as ANH of Colombia, ANP of Brazil, SHI of Suriname and erupetro will also take part in the event.  Colombia will also be represented by members of the House of Representatives, senators and ministers. 

“The Arpel-Naturgas Week 2024 represents an unprecedented milestone in the natural gas industry in Colombia and Latin America, which will be a key space to bring together the value chain of the industry in the region, and to talk about the challenges and opportunities faced by the energy sector, where natural gas is consolidating as a key vector to achieve an equitable and sustainable energy transition,” says Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas. 

For his part, Carlos Garibaldi, executive secretary of Arpel, expresses that: “It will be a week of searching for solutions with realism, cooperation, pragmatism and technological neutrality between energy sources that coexist synergistically. The oil and gas sector will continue to be essential during the necessary energy transitions which, as its name suggests, are transitions and not abrupt replacements, and which must be plural and fair, tailored to the situation, resources and priorities of each country in our region”. 

Arpel-Naturgas Week 2024 Agenda 

The opening ceremony of the Arpel-Naturgas Week 2024 will take place on Monday 8 at noon and will include authorities from Ecopetrol, Naturgas and Arpel. It will be followed by dialogues on regional perspectives, challenges and opportunities of energy transitions, and decarbonization in the transportation sector and its effects on refineries. 

Tuesday 9 will focus on ESG, and topics such as community relations, license to operate, sustainable management and transparency will be discussed.  A dialogue on financing challenges between CFOs, multilateral institutions and commercial banks will follow. In the afternoon, there will be a discussion on artificial intelligence and how to rethink the present and future of work in the O&G sector. This will be followed by a panel of hydrocarbon agencies and a conference on critical minerals needed for the major global energy transformation. 

Wednesday 10 will open with a look at the potential impact of current and future geopolitical incidents on energy transitions and our industry.

Four senior executives’ panels addressing perspectives from companies linked to the natural gas value chain, national companies, regional independents, and large regional and global companies, respectively, will follow. 

On Thursday 11, Naturgas will focus on global, regional and local perspectives about natural gas, regional integration, the global LNG market and its impact on regional resources, the challenges of energy poverty, the legislative landscape for a just energy transition for Colombia, as well as the balance of powers and the guarantees to achieve such transition. 

The program on Friday 12 will be centered on alternatives to address the roots and effects of climate change, the public-private construction needed, and emerging technologies that can help in this regard.  The week will end with the voice of the communities of the American Continent.