Caracas.- The 20th International Gas Convention, organized by the Venezuelan Association of Gas Processors (AVPG), was held at Hotel Intercontinental Tamanaco in Caracas in order to promote the exchange of technology and experience in the field of natural resources. The meeting was entitled “Natural Gas: Present and Future in Latin America.”
During the event, several business plenary sessions were held. They were coordinated by representatives of several international oil companies. The speakers addressed many issues related to the progress made in different gas industry processes, as well as the new trends and developments in the area. The 9th Industrial Gas Exhibition was opened together with the stands of participating oil companies.
Orlando Chacín, Executive Director of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), presented a paper entitled “A Global Vision: PDVSA’s updated plans in the Orinoco Oil Belt.” Chacín showed several projects implemented by the oil industry in areas such as gas infrastructure, strategic production plans, offshore and community gas projects, among others.
“Our goal is to show the progress made throughout the gas value chain at the national level and all the work that has been done in recent years to achieve regional integration in the topic of gas development, particularly in Latin America, starting from the Venezuelan gas development,” Chacín noted.
Likewise, the PDVSA director stressed the importance of gas in the electricity, petrochemical and industrial sectors, as well as in the residential sector, where the oil product is used for the direct consumption of the Venezuelan people: “We want to mention all the achievements made in terms of the impact on the people that have been benefited by the national gas plan. Over 40,000 families were benefited until 2011 and we plan to reach 80,000 more households in 2012 and meet the goal of 600,000 households benefited by the gas supply plan by 2017.”
Meanwhile, Luis Alberto Terrero, president of the AVPG, announced an academic initiative between the institution he represents, several universities and the government to train Venezuelan professionals who will be responsible for managing future gas projects in our country.
“When we see the growth of gas capacity between 7 and 13 billion cubic feet and the $55 billion investment to be made by PDVSA over the next five years, we have to ask ourselves if we have the talent required to face the future. We are starting this initiative and we have the support of many Venezuelan scholars, who are responsible for coordinating these graduate studies.”
The 20th Gas Convention served to present a comprehensive picture of the energy sector in different countries, as well as business opportunities, issues related to health care, safety and environment and future prospects of the natural gas sector.