Opening General Session

Horacio is an Argentinean chemical engineer from the National University of La Plata. He awarded his Master’s degree in science of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1994, and in 2009 he participated in the Stanford University Executive Program at the School of Business.

Throughout his 35-year professional career, Horacio has worked in the Oil and Gas Industry, developing growth strategies in the energy sector in several countries besides Argentina, such as the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. He has made important contributions to the growth and international expansion of the activity, occupying different positions in Operations, Development, Exploration and Strategy.

Nowadays, as Chairman and CEO of YPF, he has created and stablished an ambitious plan called 4X4, challenging the entire organization to work beside 4 strategic pillars that will surely reshape the company and its future.

Moreover, Horacio is a highly respected professional in industry environments and a reference for the energy activity in the region. During 2024 he received the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas University at Austin, and the award “Ing. Gerardo M. Lasalle” from Argentina’s Engineering Academy, as an acknowledgment for his professional career. In April 2025, he received the Entrepreneur Of The Year® Argentina by EY, in the executive category.

Clay Gaspar is president and chief executive officer of Devon Energy. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company, a role he assumed in January 2021 following Devon’s merger with WPX Energy. While at WPX, Clay served as president and chief operating officer and sat on the board of directors. His earlier career includes leadership and technical positions with Newfield Exploration, Anadarko Petroleum and Mewbourne Oil.

Clay serves on the boards of the Permian Strategic Partnership and the American Heart Association Southwest Region, is chairman of the Upstream Committee of the American Petroleum Institute and is a member of the Texas A&M Engineering Advisory Council. Clay earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University, a master’s degree in petroleum and geosciences engineering from the University of Texas and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas.

Christina Verchere is a British-American oil and gas executive with over 30 years of experience across 3 continents. As of May 2018, she is Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Board of OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in South-Eastern Europe. 

Prior to this, she spent over 20 years with BP, where she held several senior leadership positions in the UK, the US, Canada and Indonesia. Between 2012-2014, she was the Regional President Canada of BP (in Calgary) and between 2014 - 2018, she held the position of Regional President of the Asia Pacific (in Jakarta).   

Christina holds a Master degree in Economics Science from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She sits on the boards of the Foreign Investors Council Romania, United Way Romania and CRH plc. 

Girish K. Saligram is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Weatherford. He assumed this position in October 2020.

Before joining Weatherford, Girish served Exterran Corporation as Chief Operating Officer and previously as President, Global Services after joining the company in 2016. Previously, he spent 20 years with GE in positions of increasing responsibility as a functional and business leader in industry sectors worldwide, including his last position as General Manager, Downstream Products & Services for GE Oil & Gas. He also previously led the GE Oil & Gas Contractual Services business based in Florence, Italy. Before his eight years in the oil and gas sector, he spent 12 years with GE Healthcare in engineering, services, operations, and other commercial roles.

Girish holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Bangalore University, a Master of Science in Computer Science, and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management from Northwestern University.