Local Solutions, Global Impact: Geothermal in Colombia

This panel features:
Pablo Aguilera Bustos, Geothermal Technical Assistance for the Energy Transition, JRG Energy / AGEOCOL
Jaime Jimenez, CCUS and Geothermal Energy Lead, Ecopetrol S.A.
María Cristina Higuera Cardozo, Lawyer at the Vice Ministry of Energy, Ministerio de Minas y Energía Colombia
Monica Gasca Rojas, Executive Director, Asociación Hidrógeno Colombia
Gordon Foo, Senior Geologist, Parex Resources
About the Speakers:
Pablo’s main technical expertise is in Geophysics. In the last 8 years, he has addressed his career to promote geothermal knowledge deployment in Colombia and offering technical advice for the implementation of the country national regulatory framework. Pablo is a PhD in Geophysics applied to geothermal at the University of Auckland, New Zealand; specialist in geothermal project development of the UNU-GTP/LAGEO/Universidad de El Salvador postgraduate certificate program; MESci Earth Science at EAFIT University and BSc Physics at UIS University. Pablo has work experience in the oil & gas industry as an exploration geophysicist leading the quality control of seismic acquisitions in sedimentary basins and performing geophysical modelling and inversions for reservoir characterization. Pablo has also assessed the techno-economic feasibility of geothermal projects through building geoscientific conceptual models for geothermal potential estimation and considering domestic markets, law incentives and regulations.
Jaime Jiménez is the CCUS and Geothermal Leader for Ecopetrol, within the Vice Presidency of Low Emission Solutions. Previously, he worked as Head of Ecopetrol's Department of Reservoir Technology and Recovery. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the oil and gas sector, working primarily as a reservoir engineer on heavy oil and EOR projects in Colombia, Canada, Oman, Malaysia, Uganda, Venezuela, and the Netherlands. He has been working with Ecopetrol for 9 years, and previously worked for Shell and Total. He is a Civil Engineer from the National University of Colombia, and has a PhD from the University of Alberta in geomechanics.
María Cristina Higuera Cardozo is a lawyer, Master in Mining, Oil and Energy Regulation. Her experience includes public policy formulation for the hydrocarbons and energy transition sectors. She is a former IADB consultant for climate change in Colombia and has expertise in General Royalties System, Project Management and Sustainable Development Goals. She is currently working as a regulatory lawyer at the Ministry of Mines and Energy for the Upstream, Midstream and New Energy teams. She is a volunteer at SPE International.
Monica Gasca Rojas is an economist with a master's degree in public policy who has more than 8 years of experience analyzing and developing regulations and public policies related to renewable energies and energy transition. Monica worked in the Ministry of Mines and Energy where she was in charge of leading the country's Energy Transition strategies; she was coordinator of the Energy Transformation Mission for the modernization of the sector, the Geothermal initiative and the Hydrogen strategy. She has also worked in companies such as SerColombia, Ernst & Young, Fedesarrollo and ANDE.
Gordon Foo is a Senior Geologist with Parex Resources Inc., Colombia’s largest independent oil and gas producer. His experience spans multiple sedimentary basins across South America, including the Llanos basin where he led a project team that developed Colombia’s first ever geothermal power plant, and only the second on the South American continent. During his 15-year career, he has developed a deep understanding of low-temperature geothermal resources, and the application of other renewable energy technologies to the oil and gas industry. Gordon holds a BSc.E. in Geological Engineering from Queen’s University.