This internationally respected program focuses exclusively on energy issues affecting the Western Hemisphere: Supply, demand, project development, and energy security.
Jeremy Martin
Program Director
The Institute organizes energy conferences and seminars throughout the hemisphere that convene hundreds of energy specialists in the public and private sector to debate policy. Our ability to bring together business leaders and government officials for candid conversations is increasingly important as the world turns its attention to the issues surrounding energy resources in Latin America.
The program promotes dialogue aimed at developing sound public policies, enhanced regional integration and clear rules regarding private investment. To achieve this, the Institute’s expert team works closely with policy-makers, investors, project managers and multilateral financial institutions that are major sources of funding for energy projects.
FOCUS AREAS
Annual Latin American Energy Conference
Known as The La Jolla Conference , this is Latin America’s largest energy conference. The annual forum, hosted by the Institute for the past 18 years, convenes energy ministers of major Latin American countries, company CEOs and regulatory officials to discuss new projects, regional agreements, changes in regulations and new investment opportunities.
Hemispheric Energy Policy and Security
 This forum convenes U.S. government officials, company representatives from across the hemisphere, multilateral agencies and foreign diplomats to discuss current policies and actions, as well as ways to enhance energy cooperation in the hemisphere. Panels assess implications of regional agreements, congressional energy initiatives, the role of National Oil Companies (NOC's), regional supply and integration, and the impact of policies and strategies in Latin America on
energy security.
Energy Regulation and New Projects in Specific Countries
 The Institute is renowned for its private, executive roundtables. These closed-door sessions encourage candid dialogue aimed at promoting sound public policies and decision-making. Our roundtables focus on Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Central America and the Andean region.
Training
 Drawing on the Institute’s energy expertise, training seminars for Spanish-language journalists, academics and legislative aides offer participants an opportunity to exchange ideas with leading figures in Latin American and global energy fields. Lectures cover global energy, the Latin American energy scene, alternative and new energy sources and hemispheric energy security with the goal of explaining the intricacies of this economically vital sector and enhancing accurate and thorough coverage.
“We have found the Institute of the Americas to be the most respected
well-connected and best informed organization in dealing with Latin American issues.I would highly recommend that any company that has business dealings in Latin America become a member of the Steering Group and enjoy the full benefits that the Institute can provide.”
- Darcel Hulse, President, Sempra LNG
“As an Energy Steering Group member, Ernst & Young is pleased to work with outstanding leaders and staff at the Institute of the Americas that are responsive to our needs. In addition, we are pleased to have the opportunity to network with high-level industry professionals on the Steering Group and important representatives from key energy-related companies at events that contribute to Ernst & Young’s visibility and leadership position in
the region.”
- Enrique Grotz, Head of Latin America Energy, Ernst & Young Argentina | | 
Changing the Energy Paradigm in the Dominican Republic Energy problems are not a new phenomenon in the Dominican Republic. Blackouts have occurred regularly since 1969. But a new energy team appointed last year by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez has brought a fresh, straightforward approach in the energy starved nation. In a marked shift, the newly installed government officials, along with Congress, have publicly called for the need to depoliticize the issue of energy. However, the nation’s woes continue and significant progress remains elusive.
Speaking at the Institute of the Americas’ Energy Forum in Santo Domingo on January 19th, Enrique Ramirez, head of the National Energy Commission and Celso Marranzini, chief executive of CDEEE, the state energy holding company, argued powerfully that the issue of energy must be depoliticized if progress is to be made. The issue can no longer serve as a topic for inter-party competition and a national consensus on how to diminish subsidies and increase supply needs to be developed. The almost unanimous concurrence on the point, including by a wide range of Dominican Congressional representatives present at the event, is significant - and stood in contrast to discussions at the Institute’s 2007 energy event in Santo Domingo.
But perhaps more important were the words and details behind the headlines. Marranzini, both in his formal remarks and during a robust question and answer session, dealt head on with the historical and populist legacy of the politicization of the energy sector. In an interesting history lesson, he traced the cultural aspect that causes energy usage to go unpaid for and subsidized by the government back to the Trujillo years and the effort to drive out foreign control of Santo Domingo Power. He also pointedly compared the need to pay for energy with the same obligations citizens have to pay their mobile phone bills or for a dinner on the town. That is to say, in all but energy, flouting of payments for services is not tolerated. And he also wielded jaw-dropping statistics: In the last seven years, the Dominican government has invested more in energy subsidies than in education. He emphasized that such funding imbalances are not sustainable from a public policy perspective.
Oil in Mexico & United States Energy Security: A Tale of Symbiosis 12 Jan 2010 – IAGS Journal of Energy Security
On the outskirts of Houston, along the industrial ship canal, is a refinery known as Deer Park. It is the sixth largest refinery in the United States Its 340,000 barrel per day capacity makes it a critical refinery for the greater Houston fuels market. But what really sets the facility apart is that it is partially owned by Mexico’s national oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, (Pemex).
The Deer Park refinery dates back to 1929, but in 1993 Pemex acquired a 50% stake from Shell and the two firms have run it as a joint venture since. The facility -- which receives roughly 240,000 barrels per day from Pemex oil fields in Mexico -- has continuously served the United States market for many years This has greatly contributed to US energy security of supply. While a significant amount of the refinery’s product is for US consumption, a portion of the output returns to Mexico.
Deer Park is a remarkable two-way street of oil connections between the United States and Mexico - and a microcosm of a larger symbiotic relationship. The refinery offers superb insight into a key international piece of the broader energy security discussion in the United States.
Read full article
Brazil Assets May Help Devon Raise Over $7.5 Billion 12 Jan 2010 -- Bloomberg
Devon Energy Corp., the biggest independent U.S. oil and natural-gas producer, may beat a target of generating as much as $7.5 billion from asset sales as Brazil tightens its grip on the oil industry, boosting the value of the company’s holdings in the country, Oppenheimer & Co. said.
Oklahoma City-based Devon, which said Nov. 16 it plans to sell all its offshore and foreign assets to focus on U.S. and Canada drilling, may get more than $1 billion for its Brazilian fields, Fadel Gheit, managing director of oil and gas research with Oppenheimer in New York, said in a Jan. 8 interview. Devon aims to raise $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion this year after taxes by selling properties from Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico.
Devon has seven offshore exploratory blocks in Brazil for sale, six of which are in the pre-salt region. The area runs 800 kilometers (500 miles) off Brazil’s coast, holding oil under 3,000 meters of water and another 5,000 meters of rock and salt…“If you got in on these blocks, generally speaking you’re golden,” Jeremy Martin, energy director at the non-profit Institute of the Americas, said in telephone interview from La Jolla, California, on Jan. 6. Companies that purchased stakes in such blocks “have got to be loving the way their strategic investments worked out.”
Read full article
Chicontepec debate could redefine energy sector  By Jeremy Martin
Energy Program Director, Institute of the Americas
There are times when something is happening around us that we might not deem as monumental as history later judges. With life’s daily sturm und drang, especially during these trying financial times, the debate unfolding around Pemex’s development of the Chicontepec oil fields might not appear at first glance to be such an occurrence. Various developments suggest otherwise. Indeed, Mexico’s debate over Chicontepec could turn out to be a historical marker for the nation’s energy sector. Underscored by the unexpected change at the top of Pemex in early September, there has been an increasing restlessness with the continued decline in oil production and missed targets at the national oil company. Read full article
Pre-Salt Proposal Unleashes Debate In Brazil 
On August 31, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil announced his government’s intentions for a new fiscal and regulatory framework for what is generally referred to as the Pre-Salt hydrocarbon basin off Brazil’s Atlantic coast. Lula proposed four bills to Congress aimed at overhauling regulations of the country’s oil and gas industry and unleashed a debate over the Pre-Salt that is white hot within Brazil and across the energy world.
Against this backdrop, and with the aim of fostering an international public policy discussion of the various elements of the proposed legislation and Brazil’s energy panorama the Institute of the Americas organized a one-day roundtable in Rio de Janeiro on October 22nd.
Read more
In Brazil, Oil With a Grain of Pre-Salt Brazil celebrated Independence Day twice this year: once on Sept. 7, the anniversary of its independence from Portuguese rule, but also a week before, on Aug. 31, when President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva declared the country "free" from poverty's dominion, delivered by oil. Read full article
Change at Pemex: Shuffling deck chairs or deepening reform President Calderon began the new legislative season and second half of his Sexenio with an impassioned Informe (Mexico’s State of the Union address). Most interesting, two weeks on, were his surprising comments aimed at the oil sector and Pemex. Among what were cast as the ten most urgent reforms for Mexico in the Informe, President Calderon underscored the need to transform state enterprises. On the oil front, he called for a new, deep reform because “today a deep reform is not only the best option, but the only option. ” As we know now, the rhetoric was not empty and it ultimately proved a direct hit on the bull’s eye many perceived to have been placed on Pemex chief Jesus Reyes Heroles’ chest. Read full article
Energy integration efforts struggle in Latin America 11 June 2009 (Platts Oilgram News) Increasing production of renewable energy and tying it—as well as more traditional energy projects such as natural gas pipelines—together throughout Latin America face economic and political stumbling blocks, representatives of multilateral organizations said June 9.
"A sense of caution has replaced the euphoria we were seeing two years ago" about renewable energy including wind, solar and biofuels, Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Moreno said at a conference on energy in the western hemisphere organized by the Institute of the Americas.
The global economic crisis and weak oil and other fuel prices have caused some Latin American countries to pull back on politically unpopular or expensive energy initiatives. Still, Moreno said some projections show Latin America could see $1.3 trillion in both private and state investment in the energy sector over the next 20 years.
Many projects—whether flowing gas through international pipelines or moving solar or wind energy between countries on interconnected electrical grids—have stalled, Moreno said.
Andean Development Corporation Executive Vice President Luis Berrizbeitia agreed, saying "broad-based integration processes have become weaker in the past few years" in Latin America.
He noted that several gas pipeline projects between countries have been replaced by national LNG terminals, which allow countries to bring in gas supplies from numerous producers and support security of supply.
Argentina, Brazil and Chile are among the countries that have looked to LNG in the face of unreliable gas supply from Bolivia, where political instability has led to a decline in new investments in gas production.
Jeffrey Davidow, president of the Institute of the Americas, said politics and not technical issues are still the main barriers to integration. While he noted that Colombia and Venezuela have had some success in integrating gas pipelines and electrical grids are coming together in Central America, the overall results are still poor.
Colombia's ambassador to the US, Carolina Barco, however, insisted that her country is still pushing to connect with its neighbors through new gas and coal opportunities, the integration of biofuel production, the possibility of gas pipelines toward its Pacific coast and investment in hydropower projects.
BP's Hayward to receive Energy Innovator Award  The Institute of the Americas is proud to annouce that Dr. Tony Hayward, Chief Executive Officer of BP p.l.c ., will be honored with the Energy Innovator Award on May 13 at the annual La Jolla Conference Hayward is the first recipient of the prestigious Institute of the Americas award, which recognizes his leadership in calling for technology investment to achieve greater energy efficiency and for working to bring new energy sources to market. His efforts to respond to the world's growing need for energy despite the volatility caused by the global crisis will be highlighted.
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Martin talks about energy boom-bust at Caracas forum The IOA Energy Program Director Jeremy Martin described the energy industry's boom-bust cycle during an April 20-23 forum in Caracas, Venezuela.
The forum, which was organized by the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, focused on the geopolitics of energy and energy security in the United States and Latin America.
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Summit of the Americas and Energy Security  IOA Energy Program Director Jeremy Martin writes that the Summit of the Americas should focus the Hemisphere's energy policy agenda on four goals: a free-market approach to ethanol; improved energy standards for buildings, autos and appliances; addressing the debate over nuclear energy; and streamlining regulatory, legal and fiscal regimes. To read his commentary published in the April 15 edition of World Politics Review, click here
Pemex Bets Billions on Geologically Complex Chicontepec Field
Read article (Page 4)
Quotes Jeremy Martin
Skeptics & Pessimists: Mexico’s Energy Reform & Implementation  2008 was a bad year for PEMEX, but the future holds promise for the company, according to Director General Jesus Reyes Heroles, who spoke at the Institute of the Americas energy roundtable in Mexico City on February 3.
For Reyes Heroles the ‘bad’ was precipitated by the significant decline of the country’s oil production, particularly at the massive Cantarell field: 2008 saw oil production drop 9% to a 13 year low.
Reyes Heroles was quick to state that 2009 provided PEMEX and Mexico’s oil outlook with a proverbial new leaf. In speaking of the opportunity that the reform measures afford PEMEX, he emphasized that he prefers the current ‘day after tomorrow’ from the alternative of no reform which he noted was a real possibility as the debate dragged on last year.
Read more
Chávez Reopens
Oil Bids to West as Prices Plunge  As falling oil prices threaten the social welfare programs that have bolstered President Hugo Chávez's popular support, senior officials in his government are quietly courting Western companies to boost purchases of Venezuelan petroleum, The New York Times reported.
In recent weeks, Venezuelan officials have solicited bids from some of the largest Western oil companies, including Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell and Total of France and promised them access to some of the world's largest petroleum reserves. "If re-engaging with foreign oil companies is necessary to his political survival, then Chávez will do it," said Roger Tissot, an authority on Venezuela's oil industry who is a visiting energy fellow at the Institute of the Americas. To read the complete story by New York Times correspondent Simon Romero, click here
Energy in the Americas: The Next 25 Years - Read Summary
Central America Energy: Renewables, Integration and Investment Read Summary
US presidential election and its relevance for Latin America IOA energy program director Jeremy Martin and energy fellow Roger Tissot look at the historic US presidential election and its relevance for Latin America and the region’s energy sector. To read their article in the San Diego Union Tribune
click here
China sneezes, Latin America catches a cold 
IOA energy expert Jeremy Martin and energy analyst Roger Tissot explain the impact of an economic slowdown in China on Latin America's exports and energy sector. To read their article in Latin Business Chronicle,
click here
Energy Specialist Joins IOA Program
 Roger Tissot, an internationally renowned energy analyst, is joining the Institute of the Americas as a Visiting Energy Fellow. He will write policy papers and articles for the Institute, participate as a speaker in Institute programs, and work with the Energy Program on its conferences and roundtables.
For almost 15 years, Roger has focused his research on Latin American economic, political and energy issues, most recently as a director at Washington, DC-based PFC Energy. He also spent several years in Latin America with EnCana Corporation. Roger holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Laval (Quebec) and an M.B.A. from the University of Calgary. He lives in Canada and can be reached at:
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