The Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE) took part in the MERCOSUR Meeting of Ministers of Mines and Energy, where Executive Secretary Andrés Rebolledo Smitmans stated that energy integration constitutes an indispensable strategic political decision for reducing external vulnerabilities, strengthening energy security, and consolidating regional autonomy.
During his remarks, the Executive Secretary highlighted OLACDE’s work in technical coordination with Member and Associate States through SGT 9 and SGT 15 on Mining and Geology, through which the Organization is advancing an agenda of regulatory convergence, regional energy planning, and institutional strengthening. He emphasized that the Energy Planning Council is envisioned as a fundamental pillar for reinforcing regional energy institutions and promoting more efficient coordination of public policies aimed at cohesive, resilient energy markets.
At the meeting, the Ministers of Energy and Mining of MERCOSUR and of Chile as an Associate State recognized the strategic role of the energy and mining sector as a central driver of regional integration and as a key element for strengthening energy security, system resilience, and sustainable development. They highlighted the accumulated experience in electricity interconnection, gas integration, renewable energy, biofuels, and strategic minerals, as well as the progress achieved within the framework of MERCOSUR’s working groups. They expressed their commitment to coordinated action to advance essential infrastructure for gas integration, regulatory harmonization, the elimination of tariff, customs, and tax barriers, and greater market transparency, ensuring conditions that enable new energy flows among the bloc’s countries. They also underscored the importance of the Energy and Gas Integration Study, developed by OLACDE with financing from CAF, as a technical reference for guiding joint policies, and highlighted the reactivation of the Electricity and Gas Integration Commission as a tool for deepening regional cooperation. The Ministers also stressed the need to expand biofuel production and cooperation, advance regulatory convergence for sustainable aviation fuels, and strengthen regional cooperation on strategic minerals, which are essential for energy transitions.
As part of the MERCOSUR Energy and Mineral Integration Seminar, OLACDE’s Head of Strategic Advisory, Guido Maiulini, moderated the session “Integração Gasífera no Mercosul,” which brought together authorities from Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay to jointly address infrastructure needs, competitiveness factors, regulatory coordination, and the enabling conditions for new gas flows in the region. Maiulini stated that the region faces a decisive opportunity to advance gas integration and that OLACDE will continue promoting the dialogues needed to fully harness this potential.
