Jorge R. Piñón
Senior Research Associate, Florida International University
Former President of Amoco Oil Latin America

Jorge R. Piñón began his thirty year career in the energy sector when he joined Shell Oil Company.  He was president and CEO of Transworld Oil USA prior to joining Amoco Corporation in 1991 as president of Amoco Corporate Development Company Latin America.  In this position Mr. Piñon represented the business development and joint venture efforts in the region between Amoco Corporation and state oil companies.

In 1994 he was transferred to the downstream oil sector to serve as president of Amoco Oil de México and president of Amoco Oil Latin America, based in Mexico City.  After the 1999 merger between Amoco and BP, Mr. Piñon was transferred to Madrid, Spain, to manage BP Europe’s western Mediterranean petroleum supply and logistics operations. He retired from BP in 2003.

In 1997, when vice-president and member of the board of directors of  the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico -AMCHAM-, Mr. Piñon received the “Yiacatecutli” award for distinguished service in the promotion of U.S.-Mexico business relations.

A former energy fellow with the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy where he focused on energy and alternative fuels; he is today an international energy consultant, as well as a visiting research fellow with Florida International University’s Latin American and Caribbean Center - Cuban Research Institute.  With international experience in emerging markets and a network of senior energy contacts in Latin America, he is an independent analyst of regional and global energy issues, as well as the politics of oil and natural gas in Latin America.

He is also recognized as an expert on Cuba’s energy sector, as well as on the island’s future economic transition challenges and opportunities.  He is an advisor and a member of the Cuba task forces at The Brookings Institution and The Council of the Americas, and a member of the board of directors of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy -ASCE-.

Mr. Piñon is a frequent guest energy analyst on CNN En Español, Bloomberg Financial News Services, and other news organizations.  He holds a degree in Economics and a certificate in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida.