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With the participation of Hydrocarbons Regulators from the Americas including the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP); the Security, Energy and Environment Agency (ASEA) of Mexico; the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE's) of the United States; the Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy; and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Second Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue Conference is organized in collaboration with the Subsea System Institute at the University of Houston. The purpose of the conference is to discuss the "New Technology and Regulatory Challenges for Offshore Oil and Gas Regulation" given the growing number of offshore activity in the hydrocarbons sector in the region. The event aims to provide an opportunity for exchanges among regulators, companies, and universities around the new challenges and concerns created by the implementation of new offshore technology that requires the agreement of players and regulators for its implementation. The conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel, at the University of Houston, Thursday, April 26, 2018 from 8:00 am to 5:00pm. More information: http://www.law.uh.edu/eenrcenter/Inter-American-Hydrocarbons-Regulators-Dialogue.asp

Registration

PROGRAM

AGENDA

8:00 am

Registration

8:30  am 

Welcoming Remarks

8:45 am - 10 am 

First Panel
Offshore Technology I -Security, Data and Automation in Offshore O&G Operations

Indira Rampaul-Cheddie, Senior State Counsel in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries of Trinidad and Tobago; Professor Ramanan Krishnamoorti, Energy Chief Officer at the University of Houston; Adjunct Professor Ricardo Colmenter, Director of Entra Consulting; and Mr. Pablo Perez President & CEO, Bardasz, Oilfield Technology Solutions Provider.

10:00 am - 10:30 am

Break

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Second Panel
Regulatory Issues I - How Regulators Manage the Evolution of Offshore Technology?

Douglas Morris, Chief, Office of Offshore Regulatory Program Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE); Alejandra Nohemi Rodriguez Higuera, Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia (TBC); Magda Chambriard, Energy Visiting Scholar, University of Houston.

12 pm - 1:00 pm

Lunch and Keynote Presentation by Tim Duncan, CEO of Talos Energy LLC, Offshore Operator of Zama-1, the first offshore exploration well drilled by the private sector in Mexico's history.

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Third Panel
Offshore Technology II - Human Factor and Hardware in Offshore Platforms

Tiago Jacques, Regulation Specialist, Brazilian Petroleum Agency (ANP); Professor Camille Peres, Assistant Professor, Public Health, Texas A&M University; Mark Denkowski, Vice- President of Accreditation Operations, International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC).

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Break

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Fourth Panel
Regulatory Issues II - The Enforcement of Industry Practices and the Regulator's Role

Alicia Elias-Roberts, Professor at the University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago; Alfredo Orellana, Chief Legal Counsel of the Mexican National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector; Research Professor Julian Cardenas, University of Houston; and Tom Mitro, Co-Director of Graduate Certificate in Global Energy, Development and Sustainability, University of Houston.

5:00   pm

Closing Remarks

Websites

Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center: law.uh.edu/eenrcenter

Subsea Systems Institute: http://www.uh.edu/uh-energy/research/subsea-institute/

Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue website:
http://law.uh.edu/eenrcenter/Inter-American-Hydrocarbons-Regulators-Dialogue.asp


The Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue is an initiative of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Center of the University of Houston (EENR Center), which aims to promote research on best industry practices in the oil and gas sector and a nexus between government agencies, academia, and the private sector with respect to the regulatory challenges of the 21st Century.

Commissioner Guillermo Zuñiga, Energy Regulatory Commission of Mexico (CRE), Chairman David Porter, Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC) U.S.A., and Director José Gutman, Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), at the First Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue Conference, Houston, October 7, 2016.

The Regulators Dialogue has had the participation and support of different regulators from the Americas such as the Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC), the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) and the different Mexican Energy Agencies such as the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), the National Commission of Hydrocarbons (CNH,) and the Environmental Agency for the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA).

First Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue Conference, Houston, October 7, 2016.

Furthermore, the initiative relies on permanent collaboration with universities around the Americas which have contributed intensively with exchanges, events, and education on the implementation of the best industry practices in the hydrocarbons sector. The strategic alliances with the University of Externado in Colombia, and the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, in Monterrey, Mexico; and the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law at the University of Houston Law Center, have generated an intense dynamic of exchanges for better education on environmental, energy and natural resources issues.

       

 

The initiative is, therefore, part of a joint commitment to contribute to national and international research and education on environmental, energy and natural resources issues.


ACTIVITIES:
The Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue is organized around a major bi-annual conference which is followed by speaker's series talks, research, publications and training. To know more about these activities we invite you to visit the different sections of this website.

VALUES

The Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue is built on the belief that better efficiency can be achieved by the creation of forums of exchange between industry actors based on cooperation, transparency, education, a multidisciplinary approach, and the development of fair regulation to govern the investments in the oil and gas industry in the Americas.

CONTRIBUTION

This initiative aims to expand the number of exchanges between the actors of the oil and gas industry and to increase the number of opportunities for professional training of government officials.

Particularly, the initiative seeks to improve the quality of multidisciplinary studies in Hydrocarbons Regulators rulemaking, reducing the gap between the evolution of extractive technologies and the development of national regulations.

The Regulator's Dialogue will also provide research studies and an annual report. Hydrocarbons Regulators could share data that might be useful to other countries around the world. The data could spark the creation of independent administrative regulators, as a best practice in the oil industry when the circumstances are appropriate.

Therefore, the programs will provide more information about the best practices adopted by Hydrocarbons Regulators and the importance of their role in the oil and gas sector.

BENEFICIARIES

The interaction of interdependent actors such as government agencies, academia, and the private sector, will benefit all industry players immensely. Also, the program aims to provide better practices that benefit the populations of oil producing countries and their interaction with energy companies and national authorities.

The Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue presents a new model of interaction between industry players. The dialogue does not merely seek to encourage inter-governmental intervention in international oil markets. It aims to promote the efficient practices in the oil and gas industry, in particular, social and environmental practices, based on the paradigm of energy efficiency required under the current world economic scenario.

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