2026 Latin American Conference

The Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) Latin America Chapter is pleased to invite you to the SPEE Latin America Conference 2026, to be held in the vibrant city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 7–10, 2026.

This premier event will bring together leading professionals from across Latin America and the global energy community to share expertise, address current challenges, and exchange innovative approaches in petroleum reserves and resources evaluation.

The program is divided into two parts:

1- Main Conference (April 7–8) – Hosted at the Hilton Hotel, Puerto Madero, the conference will feature technical presentations, keynote addresses, and interactive panel discussions with distinguished industry leaders. Professionals and executives from exploration and production (E&P) companies, service providers, and government agencies will participate, creating a dynamic environment for technical exchange and strategic dialogue.

The sessions will foster interaction among participants to discuss key topics in petroleum reserves and resources evaluation, valuation, and reporting, ensuring a comprehensive perspective that bridges technical, commercial, and regulatory viewpoints.

2- SPEE Monograph 5 Course (April 9–10) – Conducted at YPF Tower, this two-day intensive workshop is based on SPEE Monograph 5: A Practical Guide to Type Well Profiles.

Together, these four days will offer a unique combination of technical insight, professional networking, and practical training, making this conference an essential event for professionals involved in reserves and resources evaluation.

Tuesday April 7th, 2026

Wednesday April 8th, 2026

Daniel Gonzalez, Vice Minister of Energy & Mining

Daniel González is a distinguished leader in the global energy sector, currently serving as the Vice Minister of Energy and Mining for Argentina with decades of experience spanning corporate leadership, strategic finance, and public administration. Previously, González was the Executive Director of IDEA, the Institute for Business Development of Argentina, leading Argentina’s largest business council, integrated by more than 500 companies, including many of the country’s largest.

Before, González was CEO of YPF S.A., Argentina’s largest energy company, where he initially was CFO from 2012 to 2017, then becoming CEO until 2020. Under his leadership, YPF played a pivotal role in securing strategic agreements, including important partnerships with global companies such as Chevron, Schlumberger, Shell, Equinor, and Petronas for the development of the Vaca Muerta Basin, the world´’s second-largest unconventional gas reserve and fourth-largest unconventional oil reserve; as well as the collaboration with General Electric for the development of YPF’s Electric Power subsidiary.

González’s corporate experience also includes 14 years at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he worked as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for Latin America and President of Operations in the Southern Cone. In addition to his executive roles, González has operated on numerous boards of directors, including Adecoagro, one of Latin America’s largest agribusiness companies, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as well as other Argentine energy companies.

González has a degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). His extensive experience in the public and private sectors positions him as a key voice in defining Argentina’s role in the energy sector, as well as sharing the unique opportunities the country presents.

Horacio Marin, YPF S.A. President and CEO

Horacio is an Argentinean chemical engineer from the National University of La Plata. He awarded his Master’s degree in science of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1994, and in 2009 he participated in the Stanford University Executive Program at the School of Business.

Throughout his 35-year professional career, Horacio has worked in the Oil and Gas Industry, developing growth strategies in the energy sector in several countries besides Argentina, such as the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. He has made important contributions to the growth and international expansion of the activity, occupying different positions in Operations, Development, Exploration and Strategy.

Nowadays, as Chairman and CEO of YPF, he has created and established an ambitious plan called 4X4, challenging the entire organization to work beside 4 strategic pillars that will surely reshape the company and its future. 

Moreover, Horacio is a highly respected professional in industry environments and a reference for the energy activity in the region. During 2024 he received the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas University at Austin, and the award “Ing. Gerardo M. Lasalle” from Argentina’s Engineering Academy, as an acknowledgment for his professional career. In April 2025, he received the Entrepreneur Of The Year® Argentina by EY, in the executive category.

Bill Zempolich, General Manager of Reserves and Storage, Chevron

Bill Zempolich is the General Manager of Reserves and Storage for Chevron, a role he assumed in July 2016. Bill is responsible for the stewardship of Chevron’s corporate reserves governance and its associated policies and processes. His career with Chevron commenced in 2010 as Subsurface Technical Director, executing Shale and Tight exploration and development activities in the Appalachian Basin. Bill then served as Principal Advisor, Unconventional Resources for Chevron and then General Manager, Shale and Tight Assets for Chevron Africa and Latin America (overseeing Neuquén basin activities in Argentina).

Prior to Chevron, Bill worked in several geoscience and exploration positions of increasing responsibility with Mobil, ExxonMobil, and Eni on a wide range of projects located around the world. In the positions of Exploration Manager and Asset Development Director within the joint operating company OKIOC and its successor AgipKCO, he oversaw a large, multi-disciplined, international workforce that successfully planned and completed the exploration, appraisal and early development of the supergiant Kashagan field (Kazakhstan) and other prospects of the North Caspian Sea license area.

Bill holds bachelor’s degrees in both chemistry and geology from Duke University, a Master of Science degree in geology from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in geology from Johns Hopkins University.

Bill has been recognized for academic and professional contributions as an American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Distinguished Lecturer in 2001-02, and in 2006, was awarded the Distinguished Geologist Award by the Kazakh Ministry of Geology.

Carlos Gilardone, CEO, Quintana Energy

Petroleum Engineer specialized in Reservoir & Production Engineering with more than 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Advisor for multiple companies such as YPF SA, PanAmerican Energy, CGC, Capex, Cepsa, Vista Oil, Tecpetrol, ENAP and Trafigura among others. Reserves auditor registered at the Secretary of Energy of Argentina. Founder of FDC de Argentina, an Engineering firm with more than 20 years of trajectory. Professor of Welltest Interpretation for more than 20 years at I.T.B.A. and the University of Buenos Aires. Key roles include advising on Argentina’s first Plan Gas and the first Vaca Muerta gas development (“El Orejano”, YPF–Dow Chemical JV), as well as over 10 years of technical advisory on Oil & Gas M&A transactions.

Tomas Ocampo, Founder & CEO, Unblock Computing

Tomás Ocampo is the Founder and CEO of Unblock Computing, an Argentine energy startup that deploys modular data centers at oil fields in Vaca Muerta, Patagonia, transforming flared gas into high-value computing power. Under his leadership, Unblock has become the second-largest oilfield computing company, with 25 MW of operational capacity across four sites.

A graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA program, Tomás brings more than 15 years of experience in infrastructure development, energy availability, and the regulatory landscape of South America’s emerging energy sector. In 2025, Unblock was recognized by Bloomberg as one of Latin America’s most innovative companies.

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Gaspar Franco Hernández, Co-Founder and Director of Technical Strategy and Energy Regulation, Fraguva Energy

Gaspar Franco Hernández is a petroleum engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, specializing in reserves evaluation, reservoir engineering, and energy regulation. He is Co-Founder and Director of Technical Strategy and Energy Regulation at Fraguva Energy, a consulting firm providing technical and regulatory advisory services to the upstream sector.

Gaspar began his career at Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), where he worked for more than 14 years in technical and operational roles, including well engineering, production planning and evaluation in the Cantarell Asset, as well as reserves estimation and development projects within Pemex Exploration and Production.

He later joined Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH), where he spent nearly ten years in senior technical and regulatory positions. During this period he held several leadership roles before being appointed Commissioner of the CNH for the 2016–2019 term, after being nominated by the President of Mexico and confirmed by the Senate. In this capacity, he contributed to the development and implementation of regulatory frameworks governing the exploration and production sector in Mexico.

He has also participated in international advisory initiatives in Latin America, including providing strategic support in the institutional transformation process related to the merger of Petroamazonas and Petroecuador.

Gaspar is also a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he teaches Integrated Reservoir Management and Integrated Petroleum Projects. He is listed as an expert witness before the Federal Judiciary of Mexico and is a Full Member of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE).

Dilhan Ilk, Executive Vice President, Division Manager of North America, DeGolyer and MacNaughton

Dr. Dilhan Ilk, is an Executive Vice President and Division Manager of North America at DeGolyer and MacNaughton. Joining D&M in 2010, he specializes in reservoir engineering, evaluations of reserves and resources and has performed a variety of studies on major oil and gas reservoirs around the globe.

Dr. Ilk earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering in 2003 from Istanbul Technical University. In 2005, he received a master’s degree in petroleum engineering, and in 2010 he was awarded a doctorate in petroleum engineering, both from Texas A&M University. Dr. Ilk is a registered professional engineer in Texas and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is a member of SPE Reservoir Description and Dynamics advisory committee.

He is a contributing author of the “SPEE Monograph IV—Estimating Ultimate Recovery of Developed Wells in Unconventional Reservoirs” and “Guidelines for Application of the Petroleum Resources Management System”

Stephen E. Gardner, P.E., 2026 SPEE President, Managing Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott.

Stephen E. Gardner is Managing Senior Vice President at Ryder Scott Company and serves as Manager of the firm’s Denver office and a member of the Ryder Scott Board of Directors. With more than 25 years of experience in reservoir and production engineering across onshore, offshore, conventional, and unconventional assets, Steve specializes in reserves and resources evaluation, economic analysis, and the practical application of SEC and SPE-PRMS guidelines for certifications, audits, and advisory engagements worldwide.

Steve began his career with ExxonMobil in the Permian Basin, where he worked extensively in secondary and tertiary recovery operations, complex workovers, and reservoir surveillance across multi-layer carbonate and tight-gas reservoirs. Since joining Ryder Scott in 2006, he has led hundreds of reserves evaluations and audits across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, with particular expertise in unconventional resource plays, Gulf of Mexico properties, and geothermal resource classifications under the PRMS framework.

A recognized leader in the evaluation community, Steve currently serves as President of SPEE, following years of service on its Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and as Denver Chapter Chairman. He is a frequent industry speaker and instructor on reserves definitions, SEC comment trends, unconventional evaluation methods, and emerging applications of PRMS to geothermal resources. He is co-author of technical papers on CO₂ flood conformance and geothermal reserves standards and has taught client and industry courses in the United States and Latin America.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Brigham Young University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and Colorado.

Steven Golko, 2026 SPEE Vice President, Senior Vice President Reserves and Resources, Sproule ERCE.

Steven is Senior Vice President of Sproule ERCE’s Reserves & Resources business. He has extensive experience in reserves and resources evaluations and audits, supply studies, resource assessments, technical due diligence, and financial and annual reporting requirements. His background includes supporting acquisitions and divestitures, security commission reporting, and disclosure requirements across the evolving energy landscape.

He has worked with a wide range of asset types, including conventional oil and gas, unconventional resource plays, heavy oil production, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) schemes, as well as emerging resources such as helium and lithium brine extraction. Steven has professional experience in more than 25 countries and has led multidisciplinary teams across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

As Senior Vice President, Steven is responsible for the oversight of Sproule ERCE’s global Reserves & Resources activities, working closely with geoscience, engineering, and commercial experts to deliver high-quality evaluations and insights to clients worldwide under COGEH, PRMS, CP-186, and other global reserves standards. He is a forward thinker with a strong interest in helping companies and colleagues navigate technical, regulatory, and disclosure challenges, including the integration of new technologies and emerging energy topics.

Within SPEE, Steven currently serves as Vice President of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Calgary Chapter, and contributes to the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGEH) update committee. He also serves on the Energy Advisory Committee to the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), advising on oil, gas, and other energy-related matters.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alberta and is a registered Professional Engineer with APEGA.

Federico Dordoni, SPEE 2026 Secretary-Treasurer, Executive Vice President, DeGoyler and MacNaughton (D&M)

Federico Dordoni is the Executive Vice President and Manager of International Reserves and Resources at DeGolyer and MacNaughton, where he oversees and is responsible for all international reserves and resources projects. He brings extensive global experience, having worked on projects and advised clients across major oil and gas regions worldwide.

He began his career with Pluspetrol in Argentina and has held key roles with ENI in Milan and Chevron in the United States and Angola.

Federico provides advisory services on reserves, resources, and field evaluations to clients worldwide. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and a Certified Petroleum Engineer through the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) and previously served as Chairman of the SPEE Survey of Parameters Used in Property Evaluation Committee.

Tad Fielder, SPEE 2026 Past President, Principal Engineer, Haas & Cobb Petroleum Consultants.

Tad Fielder is a Principal Engineer at Haas & Cobb Petroleum Consultants, where he specializes in reserves and resources evaluation, fair market value appraisals, and petroleum engineering consulting services. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Tad’s background is rooted primarily in reservoir engineering, following early roles in drilling and production engineering. His expertise includes deterministic and probabilistic evaluations, complex reservoir analysis, development plan optimization, audit and process review, and expert witness support.

Tad has held senior technical and leadership roles at several well-established consulting firms, including Forrest A. Garb & Associates and DeGolyer and MacNaughton, in addition to earlier positions at H.J. Gruy, Inc., K.E. Andrews & Co., and Paul E. Cameron Jr., Inc. He has supported major acquisition and divestiture efforts totaling more than $5 billion and has conducted a wide range of technical studies for E&P companies and national oil companies. Tad is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas, holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, and completed a postgraduate program in Data Science and Business Analytics at The University of Texas at Austin.

Juan Pablo Francos, SPEE Latin America Chapter Chair, Vice President and Principal Engineer, DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M)

Juan Pablo Francos is Vice President and Principal Engineer at DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M), with 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He previously held technical and engineering roles at Apache Corporation and Schlumberger.

He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, United States, and a member of the SPE Oil and Gas Reserves Committee, where he contributes to the review and ongoing update of the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS). Francos leads D&M’s reserves and resources evaluations for unconventional reservoirs in Argentina. His experience includes conventional and unconventional reservoir simulation, as well as the estimation of reserves and resources in accordance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and PRMS guidelines for clients worldwide.

Nic Callahan, Senior Reservoir Engineer, Cawley, Gillspie & Associates

Nic Callahan is a Senior Reservoir Engineer at Cawley, Gillespie & Associates (CG&A) with nearly two decades of experience spanning unconventional and conventional resource development across the continental United States and Eastern Europe. His work focuses on reserves and economic evaluations, fair-market valuations, acquisition and divestiture analysis, and advanced analytical and numerical modeling. Nic brings a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates reservoir engineering, data analytics, and economic modeling to support technically rigorous and commercially grounded decisions.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University and is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Arturo Rodrigo Ferreira Pardo, Reserves Coordinator, Petrobras

Arturo Rodrigo Ferreira Pardo is a highly distinguished engineer and technical leader with a robust career spanning over two decades in the oil and gas industry. Currently serving as the Reserves Coordinator at Petrobras, he holds a specialized postgraduate degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (2006). His academic foundation is anchored by a Ph.D. (2005) and a B.S. (1993) in Materials Science and Engineering from the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, providing him with a unique interdisciplinary perspective on energy challenges.

In his current capacity as Reserves Coordinator, Mr. Pardo has dedicated 13 years to the strategic oversight and classification of hydrocarbon assets. He is responsible for leading multidisciplinary teams in the evaluation and auditing of reserves, ensuring strict adherence to international regulatory standards and optimizing portfolio management for one of the world’s largest energy producers. His leadership is defined by the integration of complex data sets to provide accurate, high-stakes reporting that guides corporate investment and production strategy.

Beyond his coordination role, Mr. Pardo possesses a deep technical background with 10 years of experience as a Reservoir Engineer at Petrobras. During this tenure, he specialized in reservoir characterization, fluid flow simulation, and recovery optimization. This extensive field experience serves as the backbone of his technical authority, allowing him to bridge the gap between theoretical modeling and the practical realities of large-scale oil and gas extraction.

Complementing his industrial career, Mr. Pardo has served as a Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) since 2010. In this academic role, he shares his vast industry knowledge with the next generation of engineers, focusing on the intersection of materials science and petroleum production

Fabiano Pinto Dutra Baeta, Oil & Gas Reserves Manager, Petrobras

Jennifer Fitzgerald, Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Jennifer Fitzgerald is Vice President, Reserves for Oil and Gas at Occidental Petroleum Corporation and is responsible for overseeing the preparation of reserve estimates, in compliance with SEC rules and regulations, including the internal audit and review of Occidental’s oil and gas reserves data.

She has over 24 years of experience in the upstream sector of the exploration and production business and has extensive experience evaluating a variety of assets in basins around the world. Jennifer is a past President of the International Executive Committee for the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE) and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). She currently serves as Chair of the SPEE Annual Meeting Advance Planning Committee and on the SPEE Council of Past Presidents and Reserves Definitions Committees. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

Richard Krenek, Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc.

Richard F. (Rick) Krenek II is Vice President – Team Leader at Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI). He has approximately 40 years of experience in the upstream sector, including over 35 years with NSAI.

His work at NSAI has included oil and gas reserves and resources estimations, property evaluations, expert testimony, and advisory for properties located throughout the world. Rick is an honorary lifetime member and a past President of the International Executive Committee for the SPEE. Rick is a lifetime member of the SPE and has served on the SPE’s Oil and Gas Reserves Committee (OGRC).  His current service to the OGRC includes being a member of OGRC’s PRMS 2028 Update Committee and Chairing OGRC’s Reserves Estimation and Auditing Guidelines Update Subcommittee. Rick has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.

We thank our sponsors:

Main Conference:

• Hilton Buenos Aires – Puerto Madero
  Av Macacha Güemes 351, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  Located in the heart of the modern Puerto Madero district, the Hilton offers world-class facilities, walking distance from restaurants, waterfront parks, and cultural attractions.
  • Website Link: Hilton Buenos Aires.

Monograph 5 2-Day Course:

• YPF Tower – Puerto Madero
  Macacha Güemes 515, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  The state-of-the-art headquarters of YPF will host the Monograph 5 training, providing a professional environment ideal for technical learning and collaboration.

Lunch is included with all registration fees.

REGISTRATION ENDS MARCH 27, 2026      —       NO refunds after March 6, 2026

For questions, please contact us at latinamericaconf@spee.org

Levels of sponsorship are as follows:

(Please provide logo to latinamericaconf@spee.org)

Below is a curated list of hotels in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires — all within easy walking distance of the conference venues. We do not hold a room block or group rate; attendees are encouraged to book early to secure availability and favorable rates.

Hotel rates listed are approximate (per night, standard room in USD) and subject to change. Please check the hotel’s official website or booking platform for exact pricing and conditions.

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