Europe Chapter Event "Latin America: Unprecedented Oil & Gas Opportunities Meet the Political Super-Cycle and Put Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico in the Spotlight" Thursday, September 6, 2018 (5pm - 8:30pm Europe/London) Orrick 107 Cheapside London EC2V 6DN United Kingdom

Tim Davies, Group Exploration Manager, Premier Oil
Armando Zamora, Sr. Advisor, Accenture and Honorary Lecturer, CEPMLP: former Colombia's Hydrocarbons Agency President (2003-2011)
Rodrigo Dominguez, Partner and Co-head of the Latin America Practice, Orrick (Houston)
Carlos Bellorin, Principal Consultant, IHS Markit and Lecturer, Queen Mary University and SciencesPo
Peter Roberts, Partner Oil & Gas practice, Orrick (London), Editor of the AIPN's JWELB
Martín Añez Rea, Legal Director for Latin America, Repsol

Join the Europe Chapter for "Latin America: Unprecedented Oil & Gas Opportunities Meet the Political Super-Cycle and Put Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico in the Spotlight." After a wave of nationalistic policies during the first decade of the century, many countries in Latin America are again offering numerous opportunities in the oil and gas industry, especially in the upstream sector. After the 2014 oil price collapse, many players in the region were among the first to respond to the new market realities by amending out of date legislation and putting in place incentives to entice IOCs in a very competitive environment. As a result of that, the industry has seen major legal, fiscal and contractual changes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico in the last few years.

Argentina has passed a new hydrocarbons law and has been successful in attracting major investments into its unconventional hydrocarbons sector as well as organizing the much anticipated 1st Offshore Bidding Round. Brazil has amended its Pre-Salt regime, revamped REPETRO, established a permanent offering of areas regime (‘oferta permanente’), introduced changes into its mature fields framework and carried it out five successful bidding rounds after a two-year hiatus. Colombia has introduced major changes to its legal regime passing the comprehensive Acuerdo 2 of 2017 and readying its oil sector for a revival under the new President, Ivan Duque. The developments in Mexico since the 2013 Energy Reform have been fast-paced and attracted several players in the two multi-phased rounds that have taken place so far, but the recent election of President Lopez Obrador has added uncertainty to the sector.

During this period, the region has witnessed a string of discoveries in Guyana after the successful well, Liza-1, in 2015 within the Stabroek Block and relatively minor developments in mature producers such as Ecuador and Bolivia. Also, new frontier countries in the Caribbean have been capturing the attention of IOCs such as Jamaica, Nicaragua and Honduras and others such as the Dominican Republic and Panama has passed new oil and gas legal and contractual regimes in the hope of doing the same. The region also saw Venezuela, once Latin America’s indisputable oil powerhouse, dramatically collapse.

Within this context, the region is also changing politically, with five major Presidential elections held or to be held this year, including in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Depending on the results, the new governments may represent a major shift from existing policies and potentially affect existing and future investments in a very volatile market.

Join us for a rare opportunity to discuss the legal, fiscal, contractual and political risk implications of these rapid openings and political changes in a region that has more than 1,100 blocks on offer in more than seven bidding rounds held or to be held this year, plus many more opportunities through open door systems. The presentation will mainly be focusing on Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela with comments on other countries in the region.

Online registration has been closed and we will not be accepting on-site registrations. In case of any cancellations, we will contact the people on the waiting list. If you have any questions, please contact Carlos Bellorin at carlos.bellorin@ihsmarkit.com

Special thanks to event-sponsor: