Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy announces a new initiative focused on the Argentine energy sector that will result in conferences, reports and workshops. Argentina possesses a wide range of energy resources, including the Vaca Muerta shale formation which contains the world’s second largest unconventional natural gas and fourth largest unconventional petroleum reserves.
The initiative will formally launch during an all-day inaugural event in September at the Baker Institute in Houston, Texas. The event will be open to the public and live-streamed and will feature the participation of Baker Institute fellows, Argentina Program non-resident fellows, Argentine elected officials and others.
The Baker Institute’s Argentina Energy Sector Initiative will bring together leading experts and policymakers to study key elements of the Argentine energy sector including oil and natural gas exploration and production, energy infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, electricity transmission and LNG export terminals), and the participation of the mining sector in the renewable energy transition. The initiative will produce written reports and hold in-person conferences and workshops in Buenos Aires and Houston, along with a monthly online seminar series.
Fellows from the institute’s internationally renowned Center for Energy Studies will collaborate on this initiative with a broad range of Argentine technical experts and policymakers, with the latter playing an especially important role in Argentina where the development of a multiparty consensus is pivotal to the optimal development of the country’s energy sector. Participants will include, Sergio Massa, former Argentine minister of economy and former speaker of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies; Neuquén Gov. Rolando Figueroa; Río Negro Gov. Alberto Weretilneck; Tierra del Fuego Gov. Gustavo Melella; Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, former chief of government of the City of Buenos Aires; National Deputy Nicolás Massot; National Deputy Danya Tavella; Agustín Gerez, former president of ENARSA; Cecilia Garibotti, former Argentine undersecretary of energy; Daniel Gerold, G&G Energy Consultants; and Mariano Arcioni, former governor of Chubut.
The Baker Institute is a leading actor in the policy debate within the United States and abroad, and is ranked as the number one university-affiliated think tank in the world. The institute’s more than 200 fellows, scholars and researchers study a wide range of foreign and domestic issues, with the institute’s Center for Energy Studies, where the Argentina program is located, consistently ranked as the top energy think tank in the world. The Baker Institute’s location in the energy capital of the world allows for unparalleled access to and interaction with the major energy companies which are, or will soon be, headquartered in Houston such as Baker Hughes, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Halliburton and Occidental Petroleum, or maintain a substantial presence in the city such as bp, Equinor, Saudi Aramco, Shell, SLB and Tenaris.
The Baker Institute was founded in 1993 by James A. Baker, III. Over the course of his impressive career Baker ran five U.S. presidential election campaigns and served as President Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff and secretary of the treasury and as President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff and secretary of state.