Carlos Perez was appointed as Ecuador’s minister of hydrocarbons in May 2017.  From 2016 to 2017, Perez worked as the owner and general manager of PEMEC Energy Consultants in Quito, Ecuador.  From 1999 to 2016, Perez held various positions at Halliburton, including Geographic Integration Manager, New Ventures Advisor, Ecuador Senior Country Manager, and Human Resources Manager.  Prior to joining Halliburton, Perez worked with Schlumberger and NASA.  Perez has also served as the president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Ecuador Chapter. 

Perez holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  He is fluent in English and is comfortable conducting meetings in English or Spanish. 

Francisco Rendon was appointed as Ecuador’s secretary of hydrocarbons in June 2017.  As the head of the Hydrocarbons Secretariat, Rendon is responsible for overseeing Ecuador’s petroleum sector and managing contracts with private operators. 

Prior to his current position, Rendon worked as the principal director of the state-owned Pacific Bank, general manager of inter-institutional relations at the National Finance Corporation, executive vice president of the administrative council at state oil company PetroEcuador, and executive director of the American chamber of commerce in Guayaquil. 

Rendon holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Monterrey Institute of Technology and a MBA from the University of Houston.  He speaks Spanish and English.   

Ali Nadir is a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State.  He is currently serving as an economic officer at the U.S. embassy in Ecuador, where he covers petroleum, mining, and transportation issues.  He previously served as a political officer at the U.S. embassies in Kabul, Afghanistan and Accra, Ghana. 

Prior to joining the Department of State, Ali worked with RAND Corporation, the U.S. Combined Forces Special Operations Command in Afghanistan, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the National Election Commission of Afghanistan, and FINCA International Microfinance Bank. 

Ali holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University.  He speaks English, Spanish, and Dari. 

Dr. Ivor Ellul serves as founder and Managing Director of CiSK Ventures, an energy advisory firm. He has been involved in the oil and gas industry for more than thirty years and has held various executive positions in the upstream sector. More recently he was CEO of Knowledge Reservoir, an international oil and gas consulting firm.  

Dr. Ellul is visiting Professor to the Petroleum Engineering Department of Imperial College London and serves as Chairman of the Pipeline Simulation Interest Group. He is a Past Chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Gulf Coast Section.

Dr. Ellul holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta and MS and PhD degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College, London.