'Cuba: Geopolitics, Economic Development and Oil' focus of public lecture at Florida State
Cuba scholar and former petroleum-industry senior executive Jorge R. Piñon will discuss Cuba and geopolitics, economic development and oil during his lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 29, in the auditorium of the Florida State University Center for Global Engagement (The Globe). The event, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
A research fellow at the University of Texas-Austin Jackson School of Geoscience's Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, Piñon is widely recognized as an independent analyst of regional energy issues, including the politics of oil and gas in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Part of the Center for Global Engagement's "Engage Your World" intercultural dialogue series, Piñon's lecture — "Cuba: Geopolitics, Economic Development and Oil" — will take place:
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 29
5:30 P.M. – 7 P.M.
110 S. WOODWARD AVE.
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
TALLAHASSEE
The Tallahassee Committee on Foreign Relations is sponsoring Piñon's visit to Florida this week, during which he will meet with senior state officials and business leaders. Florida State University sponsors of Wednesday's lecture include the Center for Global Engagement; the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights' Human Rights and National Security in the 21st Century Lecture Series; the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy's Ruth K. and Shepard Broad International Lecture Series; and the Cuban American Student Association.
In 1975, Piñon began his 32-year career in the energy sector when he joined Shell Oil Company's supply and transportation organization. He was president and CEO of Transworld Oil USA prior to joining Amoco Corporation in 1991 as president of Amoco Corporate Development Company Latin America, a role in which he represented business development and joint-venture efforts between Amoco Corporation and state oil companies.
In 1994, Piñon was transferred to the downstream oil sector to serve as president of Amoco Oil de México and president of Amoco Oil Latin America, based in Mexico City. In 1997, while vice president and a member of the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of México, Piñon received the "Yiacatecutli" award for distinguished service in the promotion of U.S.-Mexico business relations.
Following the 1999 merger between Amoco and BP, Piñon was transferred to Madrid, Spain, to manage BP Europe's western Mediterranean petroleum supply and logistics operations. He retired from BP in 2003.
Piñon has conducted research and country risk assessments as an Energy Fellow at the University of Miami's Center for Hemispheric Policy (2005-2010) and at Florida International University's Latin American and Caribbean Center (2010-2012).
He is also recognized as an expert on Cuba's energy sector. He is an adviser and a member of the Cuba task forces at The Brookings Institution and Council of the Americas; a member of the board of directors of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy; and a coauthor of "Cuba's Energy Future: Strategic Approaches to Cooperation" (Brookings, 2010), a monograph addressing the major challenges facing Cuba's access to energy resources that are environmentally sustainable and sufficient to meet the nation's revitalization and development goals.
Piñon is a frequent guest energy analyst on CNN En Español, Bloomberg Financial News Services and other news organizations. He holds a degree in economics and a certificate in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida.
To learn more about Piñon's visit to Florida and the Feb. 29 lecture at Florida State, and to schedule an interview, contact Mark Schlakman, senior program director of the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, at (850) 644-4614, (850) 766-2146 or mschlakman@admin.fsu.edu.