Argus Rio Crude Conference

Cristiano Pinto da Costa

President, Shell Brasil

Cristiano Pinto da Costa has been with Shell for 29 years, holding senior leadership positions across operations, strategy, new business development, commercial, and mergers and acquisitions in Downstream, Trading, LNG, and Upstream.

After 18 years in international roles in London, The Hague, and Houston, Cristiano returned to Brazil in 2018 to oversee Shell’s participation in Pre-Salt assets. He was appointed Senior Vice President for Upstream in August 2021. In August 2022, he became President of Shell Brazil. In April 2025, Cristiano was appointed Executive Vice President of Shell Group for Upstream — a global executive role he holds concurrently with the Presidency of Shell Brazil. In 2025, he also served as a member of Raízen’s Board of Directors.

Cristiano holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom

Renato Dutra

National Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil

Luiz Carvalho

CFO, Brava Energia

Luiz Carvalho is currently Brava Energia CFO / IRO. Luiz was ranked #1 analyst by Institutional Investor survey in Brazil Oil & Gas for 10 consecutive years and holds a degree in Industrial Engineer from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, with specialization courses at Harvard and Wharton. Prior to Brava Energia, Luiz spent 15 year in Finance where he worked at UBS, HSBC and BTG Pactual. Luiz also has industry experience at Shell and Transocean and worked offshore in Brazil for 2 years.

Roberto Ardenghy

CEO, IBP

Currently CEO of the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP), the main industry association in Brazil, Roberto Ardenghy is a former Brazilian diplomat with 30+ years of experience in government relations, infrastructure, energy, sustainability and oil & gas, both in private and public sectors.
He worked as a diplomat at different Brazilian Embassies and Consulates abroad (Washington DC, Buenos Aires, Houston and New York). He also held senior positions in Brazil’s federal government in Brasilia at the Cabinet of the President (Planalto Palace) and at the Ministries of Justice, Commerce and Development. From 2002 to 2007, he worked at the National Petroleum Agency ANP (oil regulator), with different responsibilities, including Chief of Staff, President of the Ethics Commission and Supply and Biofuels Superintendent. From 2007 to 2111 he took the position of Chief Corporate Affairs at BG Group in Brazil, an international oil company based in Rio de Janeiro.

Alipio Ferreira

Vice President- Crude Oil Trading Brasil, PetroChina Brazil

Alipio Ferreira is a Petroleum engineer with a master’s degree in Administration, from Coppead-UFRJ. He currently serves as the Crude Vice President at PetroChina Brazil International Trading. With extensive experience in the oil industry, Alipio has held key positions both in Brazil and internationally. Notably, he has contributed to exploration and production, crude and products trading, distribution, and petrochemicals. His career spans roles such as Petrobras America Downstream VP, Petrobras Singapore Managing Director, BR Distribuidora Director, and Petrobras Head of Global Crude and Products Trading.

Rodrigo Almeida

Head of Oil & Gas Research, BTG Pactual

Rodrigo Almeida is the Head of the Oil & Gas Equity Research team at BTG Pactual, where he covers companies such as Petrobras, PRIO, Brava, Vibra, Ultrapar, and Braskem. Rodrigo has been covering the Oil & Gas space in Latin America for the past 8 years, with a particular focus on equities.

Samir Awad

Director of Trading, PPSA

Holder of an Undergraduate Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Military Institute of Engineering (IME) in 1982, with a Master´s degree in Subsea Engineering (Cranfield University and Insead Business School), in England, and Postgraduate Certificates from Stanford (USA) and Insead Business School, in France, Samir Awad began his professional career at Petrobras, where he worked for over 30 years. Among the various activities carried out at the company, the engineer served as CEO of Petrobras Nigeria Ltd. (1999-2006); executive manager for the Americas, Africa and Asia, managing E&P and downstream projects in 17 countries (2007-2009); and CEO of Petrobras Netherlands BV. (2009-2016).

Mauricio Martin

VPE Midstream & Downstream, YPF SA

Mauricio Martin holds the position of Midstream & Downstream Vice Executive President since December 2023.

Previously, Mauricio served as Digital Technologies and Transversal Solutions Vice President
from August 2022 to December 2023 and as Downstream Vice President from May 2020 to August 2022.

He joined the company in 1997 and has developed his career in different Downstream areas and positions, such as Process Engineer, Responsible for Production, Responsible for Environment, Safety and Health, Industrial Complex Manager, Planning and Technical Development Manager.

He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. He also completed specialization programs and holds an MBA from the CEMA.

Gustavo Hooper

Head of Trading & Shipping, PRIO

Gustavo Hooper is head of trading and shipping for Prio, the largest independent oil and gas production company in Brazil. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the sector, with international roles in multinational companies such as Shell, Raizen, Sinochem and PetroChina. Gustavo has a master’s degree from PUC-Rio and a BSc degree in economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Salamanca University in Spain. He is also a graduate of the Coppead Business School in Rio de Janeiro.

Augusto Castagnino

COO, VMOS

Victoria Sabbioni

Commercial VicePresident, CGC

Victoria Sabbioni is an energy industry expert with more than 22 years of experience.

She joined Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC) in 2018, where she has held several management roles in commercial areas related to crude oil, midstream, natural gas, and power. She currently serves as Commercial Vice President, overseeing CGC’s global business and serves several board positions within other companies of the group.

Prior to CGC, she built her career at TOTALENERGIES and ENGIE, gaining broad experience across the energy sector. She holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from ITBA and has completed executive programs at the World Energy Council and IAE Business School. She also holds a diploma in Hydrocarbons Law from Universidad Austral and specializes in Oil and Natural Gas Economics from ITBA.

She is a member of Women Corporate Directors (WCD) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Daan Struyven

Co‑Head of Global Commodities Research & Head of Oil Research, Goldman Sachs

Daan is co-head of Global Commodities Research and head of Oil Research within Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research. He is co-responsible for research and views on global commodity markets, spanning oil, natural gas, power, precious metals, industrial metals, and commodity portfolio allocation. He also continues to drive research on oil and gold markets. Prior to leading the firm's research on oil markets, he co-led research on the global economy for three years, led the firm's economics research effort for Canada and worked in the US economics group for five years. Daan joined Goldman Sachs in 2015 and was named managing director in 2021. Earlier in his career, Daan worked as an economist at the World Bank. He was also a guest lecturer at Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Columbia University and Universite Libre de Bruxelles. Daan's work has been published in several academic journals, including the American Economic Journal: Policy and the Journal of Banking and Finance. Daan earned a BA in Political Science and Business Engineering and an MA in Business Engineering from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. He also earned a PhD in Economics from MIT in 2015.

Danielle Gomes De Almeida Valois

Partner, Trench Rossi Watanabe

Danielle Valois joined the Firm in 1999, became a partner in 2011. She leads the Trench, Rossi e Watanabe´s Energy practice in Brazil, having extensive experience in advising domestic and foreign clients on legal, regulatory and commercial matters involving the energy sector, including domestic and multijurisdictional M&As, infrastructure development projects, public and private bidding processes, and administrative, judicial and arbitration litigation. Danielle also works in the elaboration and review of corporate governance and compliance policies for companies in the energy sector, and actively assists clients and sectorial organizations in the advocacy and policy making of the Brazilian energy industry legislation and regulation.

Łukasz Strupczewski

Executive Director for Oil Trading, ORLEN S.A

Romina Poli

Crude Trader, YPF

Francisco Villamil

Executive Trading Manager, Vista

Rob McLeod

Global Head of Energy Risk Solutions, Hartree Partners

Rob McLeod leads Hartree’s Global Risk Solutions group, sharing advice and insight to customers across all industry sectors on energy price risk – from crude and refined products to natural gas, emissions, freight and beyond – and providing hedging tools to help manage that risk. With 20 years’ experience, Rob has built a leading franchise in risk management across the energy sphere – structuring solutions to exactly fit clients’ needs, whether as standalone derivatives or embedded into physical supply & offtake. Prior to joining Hartree, Rob worked in energy at UBS. He holds a BSC in Economics from the University of Bristol.

Bruno Donato

Associate Director, Macquarie

Arturo Vial

Market Intelligence Analyst, Ultranav

I’m an Industrial Civil Engineer with a Diploma in Environmental Engineering. Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, I joined Ultranav as a Business Analyst for CPP/DPP Business Units (Panamax, MR2’s & Aframax) Sept-2020 to an almost empty office during COVID lockdowns. In Jan-2023, I joined the Miami offices to work as a Market Intelligence Analyst, working alongside the Chartering department with a mixture of Market Intel & Risk Management duties.

Matt Smith

Head Analyst- US, KPLER

Matt started his career at Royal Bank of Canada in London, England, working his way up to portfolio manager in the investment management team. He then moved to the US and spent 8 years as a Global Commodity Analyst at Schneider Electric / Summit Energy, before becoming Director of Commodity Research at ClipperData for 6 years, leading a team of analysts across a variety of energy commodities.
Matt joined Kpler in September 2021, and as Head Analyst, US, he is focused on producing research and providing counsel to key clients on the energy market.

Victor Pessoa

Ship to Ship Operations Manager, Porto Sudeste

David Fyfe

Chief Economist, Argus

David Fyfe is Chief Economist at Argus. He has more than 30 years’ experience of working in energy markets. Prior to joining Argus, David was most recently Chief Economist at commodity trading company Gunvor. Before this, he managed the oil industry and markets division of the International Energy Agency and edited its influential monthly Oil Market Report. David has a master’s degree in energy policy and economics from Imperial College London.

Vanessa Viola

Executive Vice President, Latin America, Argus

Vanessa Viola is the Executive Vice-President of Latin America at Argus. She rejoined Argus in 2011 as our Brazil Country Manager and is now working to expand the company’s business across Latin America. Vanessa initially joined Argus in 2001, working as Deputy Editor of the Argus European Products report and Editor of the Argus International LPG report before leaving in 2005 to work as an LPG broker with Gibson in London. Prior to her assignments in the UK, Vanessa worked as a political and financial correspondent for Reuters (Brasilia, Sao Paulo), as a financial reporter for Brazil’s leading news agency Agencia Estado and as a press relations officer with energy engineering company Asea Brown Boveri, also based in Sao Paulo. A graduate from Brazil’s Casper Libero University with a BA in social communications, Vanessa has a master’s degree in international journalism from London’s City University. In addition to Portuguese and English, she is fluent in Spanish.

Gus Vasquez

Argus Americas Senior Crude Editor, Argus

Gus Vasquez has been the Argus Americas Crude Editor since the beginning of 2008. Prior to that he was a member of Argus’ European crude team, based out of London, where he covered the North Sea, Mediterra¬nean, Russian and west African crude markets. Before joining Argus in 2006, he spent four years as a market analyst for Venezuela’s national oil company working out of their London office.