Meet our keynote and Invited speakers
Ronan Ávila
ANP
Deputy Geological and Economic Assessment Superintendent
Ronan Ávila is the Deputy Geological and Economic Assessment Superintendent at the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP). He joined ANP in 2013 after working for several private companies in Brazil and other countries, including Halliburton, Fugro, Paradigm Geophysical, and Geo Research. Ronan has also worked in the public sector for the Brazilian Geological Survey, the Brazilian Energy Research Company, and Brazil's Nuclear Industries. He is a geologist from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, with an MBA in project management from the University of São Paulo and a master's degree in engineering and science from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Ronan recently started his energy planning doctorate, focusing on the Geological Storage of CO2 (CCUS).
Javier Toro
WoodMackenzie
Senior Research Manager – Southern Cone Gas and Power Services
Javier is an economist with more than 12 years of professional experience in the energy sector both in the private sector and in international organizations such as the World Bank and GIZ. Specialist in natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, Javier holds a PhD from the Institute of Energy and Environment at the University of São Paulo (IEE/USP), and a master’s (MPA) in International Energy Policy from Columbia University.
Pablo Gristo
ANCAP
Exploration Manager
Gristo Pablo is the Head of Geoscience at ANCAP (National Oil Company of Uruguay). He spent the last 15 years involved in projects for the exploration and production of mineral resources, onshore and offshore of Uruguay, Argentina, and Venezuela. He has had previous experience in environmental management and monitoring projects. Pablo studied chemical engineering at Universidad de la República, Uruguay. His post graduate studies were in exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Argentina. He has a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University.
Shelagh Baines
Halliburton
Global Practice Lead for Carbon Management
Shelagh is the Global Practice Lead for Carbon Management for Halliburton Consulting. She is a geoscientist with over 20 years’ experience in the energy industry with a focus on CCS, including working with major operators, international consultancy groups and as an independent consultant. Her focus is on the development of CO2 storage projects to enable decarbonization of power generation, heavy industry, and direct air capture (DAC) projects. Shelagh started working on CCS in 1998 as the BP representative on the EU-funded R&D project on the Sleipner CCS project. She was also the Lead Geoscientist for BP Alternative Energy’s ‘Decarbonized Fuel’ projects. She has been invited onto several technical oversight committees and has several publications on the topic of CO2 storage.
Heloisa Borges
Energy Research Office (EPE)
Director of Oil, Gas and Biofuels Studies
Heloisa Borges holds a PhD, a master's and bachelor's degree in economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a bachelor's degree in law and a postgraduate degree in Public Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia Law School and a fellow of the Columbia Women's Leadership Program at Columbia University. She is the author of scientific articles and book chapters, professor, and coordinator at the undergraduate and graduate levels .Heloisa is a civil servant who held various positions in the Brazilian Public Administration (as a researcher, a professor and a specialist), and joined the National Petroleum Agency - ANP in 2005, where she was responsible for the Brazilian Bidding Rounds between 2017 and 2019. Since May 2020 she has been Director of Oil, Gas and Biofuels Studies at the Energy Research Office.
Fernanda Delgado
Brazilian Association of the Green Hydrogen Industry
CEO of ABIHV
CEO of ABIHV, Brazilian Association of the Green Hydrogen Industry. Postgraduate Professor at Fundação Getúlio Vargas FGV and UFRJ. Professor of the Postgraduate Program at the Army Command and General Staff School. PhD in Energy Planning (COPPE/UFRJ), Master in Information Technology (CEFET/RJ) and in International Finance (FGV/EBAPE).
Joao Henrique Nascimento
Special Secretariat for the Investment Partnerships Program of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic (SEPPI/CC/PR)
João Henrique works as Program Director at the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI), within the scope of the Presidency of the Republic, where he works with the structuring of priority infrastructure projects. In the Oil and Gas sector, he worked at the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) for 15 years and expanded his knowledge and experience in several thematic areas of the Agency, such as the Superintendence of Research and Development (SPP, now SPD), Development and Production (SDP), Operational Safety and Environment (SSM), Local Content (SCL) and Government Participation (SPG). He has experience in the public and private sectors, in Oil and Gas infrastructure (Regulatory Agency) and Consumer Goods (The Coca-Cola Company), where he developed skills and experience in the economic analysis of projects and evaluation of companies at the energy and the beverage sector. Graduated in Chemical Engineering from IME-RJ. He completed his master's degree in Project Management and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and has specializations in Regulation, Antitrust, Economics, Law and Environment.
Joao Correa
TGS
Country Manager
Raphael Camara
Shell
Business Development Manager
Originally from Brazil, Raphael holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology from UFRN, a M.Sc. degree in Geoscience from UFRJ, and an MBA degree from INSEAD, who brings a lot of experience in strategy, portfolio management, business growth, project & stakeholders management, deal delivery, carbon markets expertise. Geoscience by training with passion for business growth.
He joined Shell in 2015 based in Rio de Janeiro, working as Exploration & Appraisal Geologist for multiple projects, matured several deep-water wells and participated in many farm-in/farm-out processes in Brazil and abroad including numerous bid rounds. In 2020, Raphael moved on an assignment in London as Strategy and Portfolio Analyst, working across the upstream portfolio.
More recently, Raphael joined the Nature Based Solutions team as Business Development Manager- carbon markets- developing deal origination and deal delivery for the Latin America region. Before joining Shell, he worked for several IOCs and NOCs (operations and technical roles) and also co-founded the Geo Smart consultants company.
Olivier E. Wambersie
Shell
General Manager, Technology & Innovation
Senior Executive in the energy business for more than 30 years,Olivier is currently the General Manager, Technology and Innovation in Shell Brasil. Prior to this, he occupied senior positions in BG Group, a UK Independent, as Corporate Chief TechnologyOfficer and BG Brasil Chief Operating Officer.
Since 1990, Olivier has acquired a wide experience in the Oil & Gas. and Energy business with Shell International, when he managed key assets worldwide, in UK, Oman, Malaysia and Brazil. More recently, he has been leading the Upstream and Energy Transition challenges from the R&D and Innovation fronts.
A quote he particularly likes, from Steve Jobs: “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
.Olivier is married to Anne-Catherine, with 3 grown-up graduate children. He holds an MSc and PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Louvain, Belgium, and ExecutiveManagement certificates from Wharton, USA and Cranfield, UK.
Luiz Hayum
WoodMackenzie
Principal Research Analyst – Deepwater expert, Latin America Upstream
Luiz Hayum is a Principal Analyst with the Latin America Upstream Research team based in Rio de Janeiro. During its time in WoodMac, Luiz also supported financial sector clients in all things Energy with the Curated Services team and provided upstream research coverage for Angola.
Luiz joined Wood Mackenzie Houston’s office in 2014 before moving to Rio de Janeiro to support the creation of the local team. Since then, Luiz has developed a deep understanding of technical, commercial, fiscal and regulatory aspects of oil and gas developments, with a particular interest in the Brazilian pre-salt, Guyana and other high-impact deepwater provinces.
Luiz holds a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Luiz also completed a Continued Education course in Corporate Financial Strategy – Valuation, M&A, Corporate Funding and Compliance – offered by Fundação Getúlio Vargas.
Christopher Lolley
Chevron
Lower Carbon Director
Christopher Lolley is a distinguished engineer with over 25 years of experience in the energy industry, primarily with Texaco and Chevron. His expertise encompasses reservoir and asset development, reserves, production, project management, and technology development & deployment. He has worked across various asset classes and business units, including heavy oil, shale & tight, waterflooding, and conventional resources. In addition, he developed and taught multiple workshops and courses for both Chevron and Joint Venture partners.
Educationally, Christopher holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, where his research focused on heavy oil fluid characterization, thermodynamics, equations of state, and compositional thermal simulation.
Christopher has held a variety of roles within Chevron including leading the technology portfolio for Chevron’s heavy oil assets, Resource Development Team Leader in the Chevron Technical Center, Oil Shale Commercial Manager in the Mid-Continent Business Unit, Asset Development Team Leader in the Mid-Continent Business Unit, and leading reservoir management activities as the Reservoir Management and Reserves Manager for Chevron’s Latin America assets.
Christopher was appointed Lower Carbon Director for Chevron’s Oil, Products, and Gas organization in 2024. He is responsible for helping to advance Chevron’s efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of the oil, gas, and products the company produces and sells.
Jonas Q. Castro
Petronas
Head of Research Development and Innovation (RD&I)
+30 yrs experience in E&P Industry. Graduate in Geology, MSc In Reservoir Characterization. MPA in Public Energy Contracts. Worked at: PETROBRAS, ANP (Exploration Superintendent), SHELL BRASIL (in-Country Exploration Manager), PETRA ENERGY (E&P Board Advisory), BG BRASIL (Geology Consultant) and PETROBRAS Brasil ( Head of PD&I/CSCS). Owner of GRR Consultory ( Regulatory and Above the Ground Risk Assessment).
Anelise Lima
Petrobras
Coordinator of CO2 Storage Studies and project development
Anelise Lima is the Coordinator of CO2 Storage Studies and project development in E&P at Petrobras. She holds a degree in Geology and a Master's degree in Geostatistics from the University of São Paulo. With six years of experience in the Exploration Projects area at Vale, Anelise has been at Petrobras for 14 years, where she has worked as a Reservoir Petrophysicist and later as a Functional Manager of Formation Evaluation.
Sougata Halder
TGS
Project Lead for New Energy Solutions
Sougata Halder is the project lead for TGS New Energy Solutions, focusing on project development and execution for CO2 storage and wind energy in North and South America. She is a senior geoscientist with a PhD degree in Geoscience from Southern Methodist University in Texas. She has 15 years of industry experience, providing technical leadership in integrated geophysical and geological analyses for exploration to field development planning. She has been invited by multiple professional organizations as a speaker and technical committee member for various CO2 storage and subsurface energy forum..
James Wallace
BGP
Chief GeophysicistAfter graduating from the University of Birmingham in 2002, James started his career with Geotrace Technologies, which included providing data processing across the Wavefield Inseis fleet. In 2009 he joined Polarcus and PXGEO in 2021, where he held roles as Geophysical Support Manager and Area Geophysicist. In 2023, James joined BGP as Chief Geophysicist. James is a published geophysicist with a passion for optimizing acquisition designs through innovative solutions, thereby reducing the environmental impact of seismic surveys. During his career, he was involved in the development of multiple source acquisition which culminated in a ten-source acquisition. On the receiver side, James puts his focus on fast efficient handling, having been involved in developing drop and pop nodes and AUV technology.