Bus. Devt: Mexico – The Evolving Doors to Entry

Since 1995, George Baker has been the publisher of Mexico Energy Intelligence®, a research service that examines the institutions, policies and legal and regulatory frameworks of the Mexican Energy Sector. In parallel, he manages the content of the web portal ENERGIA.COM. Subscribers to his research service include oil and gas companies as well as regulators CRE, CNH and the libraries of several law schools, including that of the UANL and the University of Houston.

His professional experience related to Mexico dates from the late 1960s when he was a doctoral student at Duke University and did research in Mexican archives on topics of mid-19^th political, constitutional and military history. In two academic years, 1973 and ’74, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the UNAM.

Baker’s career direction was changed under the influence of the late Hugh Harleston, Jr., who was, by the early 70’s, retired as country manager of Dresser Industries (and who, among his many accomplishments, held an M.A. in Latin American Literature from the UNAM).  Baker turned his research attention to Mexico’s oil sector. His first article in Oil & Gas Journal was publish in June of 1981, memorably entitled “Eclipse of Mexican Light,” alluding to the rise of heavy oil production from the Cantarell discovery.

He moved to Houston from Berkeley in 1996. His article in Oil & Gas Journal published in November 18th of that year, entitled “Mexico’s Basins Could Provide Niches for Various Sized Firms,” co-authored with geologist James L. Wilson, Jr., correctly anticipated the logic of the Energy Reform of 2014.

In over 1,000 reports, he has sought to serve as an honest broker between the concerns and expectations in Mexico and those of the global investment community.

His community involvement includes teaching a weekly class at the West University Community Center: “How Gringo Is Your Spanish.” http://www.energia.com/how-gringo-is-your-spanish/

Read has over 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in Latin America, Asia and Africa driving highly successful outcomes in exploration and new ventures growth, technology development, field development and operational oversight. Prior to joining Sierra, he led a successful campaign of substantial gains with Brazilian private company Petra Energia as Executive Vice President Board Member. Prior to that, he served as General Manager and President of Devon Energy Brazil where he led a team ultimately responsible for several significant discoveries in shallow and deepwater offshore Brazil. Read has also worked in various international field locations in geo-technical and commercial management positions at UNOCAL and Anadarko. He holds a BS in International Business from Pepperdine University, a BS in Geophysics and an MS in Geology from University of Southern California. Read also holds a diploma from Harvard Business School in Executive Management.

Horacio has over 15 years of experience in developing business in Mexico, mainly in the midstream energy arena. Through his Firm Infrastructure Consulting, founded in 1999, he has advised mostly foreign companies such as Chevron and EnCana in the commercial and legal risk assessments of entering into Mexico. He started his career at Arthur Andersen and quickly escalated to Manager at Andersen Consulting. Subsequently joined the law Firm of López Velarde, Borda y Quintana leading the natural gas division focused on foreign investment in Mexico’s natural gas sector. He is a Harvard School of Government Alumnus and member of the Mexican Bar Association, Asociación Mexicana de Gas Natural, the Institute of the Americas, the US-Mexico Chamber, among others. He has publications in several reputable journals such as the Oil & Gas Financial Journal, Mexico Oil & Gas Review and the Oil & Gas Year.

Alan is a Technical Director in GCA’s Houston office. He has over 40 years’ experience in the international oil and gas arena and has led organizations with as many as 2,000 employees. Alan began his career in 1974 as a geophysicist for Fairfield before becoming a landman for Mobil in 1977. In 1981, Alan moved to Union Texas Petroleum where he held increasingly senior technical and executive roles in Houston, Singapore and Jakarta.  After the ARCO purchase of Union Texas in 1998, Alan became president of Entegrity Ventures International followed by becoming president and COO of Swift Energy – New Zealand. More recently, Alan served as an energy policy specialist with The World Bank before joining GCA in 2013. Alan currently advises on fiscal policy, field development planning, reservoir performance and license round management. He is a graduate of the University of Texas (BS Geology 1973, BA Political Science 1974) and the South Texas College of Law (1977).