The Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE), has launched a new initiative designed to identify, assess, structure, and accelerate renewable energy, decarbonization, and new business development projects led by National Oil Companies (NOCs) across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
OLACDE, whose Caribbean members include Barbados, Belize, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Latin American and Caribbean Methane Emissions Observatory (OEMLAC) has launched the Diagnosis, Investment Roadmaps, Project Development and Energy Transformation (DRIVE) initiative during the 11th Energy Week.
It said DRIVE aims to support NOCs throughout their transformation journey, from identifying strategic opportunities to project structuring, financing, and implementation. The initiative will bring together technical expertise, strategic partners, and sources of climate, concessional, and development finance to help turn investment opportunities into viable projects.
‘National Oil Companies have played a leading role in the energy development of Latin America and the Caribbean for decades, and they also have the capacity to lead their own transformation.
‘Through DRIVE, we want to support them in turning new investment opportunities into concrete projects, building new capabilities, and mobilizing the resources needed for implementation,’ said OLACDE’s executive secretary, Andrés Rebolledo.
As part of the launch, the Association of Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy Companies of Latin America and the Caribbean (ARPEL), the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), and the Global Methane Hub (GMH) signed a Joint Declaration on the Strategic Transformation of National Energy Companies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Through the declaration, the signatories expressed their commitment to strengthening regional dialogue and cooperation, endorsed DRIVE as a platform to facilitate access to concessional, climate, and development finance, and invited international organizations, development banks, technical institutions, and academia to join the initiative.
Latin America and the Caribbean’s leading NOCs collectively generate approximately US$250 billion in annual revenue. OLACDE, through OEMLAC, estimates that these companies have a potential multi-year investment pipeline exceeding US$20 billion in renewable energy, decarbonization, and emerging low-carbon business projects.
The organization has already initiated discussions with national energy companies across the region to identify opportunities and begin developing an initial regional project portfolio.
‘NOCs possess the capabilities, assets, and significant investment opportunities needed to advance their transformation. Often, the challenge is not identifying what needs to be done, but rather structuring projects, finding the right partners, and securing the financing required to implement them. DRIVE is specifically designed to bridge that gap and do so at a regional scale,’ said OEMLAC director, Gastón Siroit.
GMH’s Regional Director for Latin America, Henrique Bezerra, said the initiative offers an opportunity to translate ambitious global climate commitments into concrete financial and operational mechanisms capable of transforming the region’s oil industry.
He said it represents a shift from simply calling for methane emissions reductions to establishing the financial and technical infrastructure needed to make those reductions a reality.
ARPEL’s executive secretary, Carlos Garibaldi, described DRIVE as a pragmatic step forward: an essential mechanism enabling the sector to take a leading role in its own transformation and decarbonization through practical, results-oriented action.
The initiative will initially focus on five strategic areas: electricity infrastructure; sustainable refining; clean mobility; energy efficiency and emissions reduction; and new strategic business opportunities.
These areas encompass renewable power generation and energy storage, biofuels and alternative fuels, electric mobility, methane emissions reduction and carbon management, as well as opportunities related to critical minerals.
DRIVE will also establish a regional dialogue platform for participating companies, open to international organizations, development banks, technical institutions, academia, and other interested civil society stakeholders.
OEMLAC will serve as DRIVE’s initial institutional platform, building on its experience and established relationships with NOCs across the region in methane emissions reduction and decarbonization. DRIVE will complement this work by expanding technical and strategic support to a broader range of energy transformation projects, while preserving OEMLAC’s specific mandate on methane emissions.