Néstor Fernando Saavedra - Vice President Innovation and Technology. Ecopetrol
Nestor helps add value to the business chain by directing the company through the management of innovation, technology, and development of competitive advantages.
Néstor graduated as a petroleum engineer from the Universidad Industrial de Santander in 1987 and completed a masters degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas A & M in 1996.
He joined Ecopetrol in 1988, where he began his career in the laboratories of Petrophysics, at the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP). He was in charge of coordinating the projects for horizontal wells technology and rock mechanics, as well as the evaluation and prediction of behavior of Colombian’s oil reservoirs.
From 2003 to 2006 he served as Head of the Research Unit of the ICP, where he managed projects of geological modeling for risk and cost reduction in the Piedemonte region of Colombia, and the modeling of refining processes to improve gross margin Ecopetrol refinery. From 2008 to 2012 he served as Director of the Colombian Petroleum Institute.
He has also held the position of Vice President of Services, Technology and Production.
Awards and prizes
- November 2011: Recognized as a Distinguished Member by the International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), in Denver, Colorado. Distinguished Member was established to recognize members of this organization who have achieved eminence in the petroleum industry or academia. In addition to the distinction, Nestor Saavedra was appointed Director of the SPE for the Region of South America and the Caribbean.
- November 2010 in Lima – Peru: Received the Regional Service Award given by the branch to South America and the Caribbean of the Society of Petroleum Engineers SPE.
- December 2009: Received the Order of Scientific Merit Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento, by the Mayor of Bucaramanga, Colombia.
- Received recognition and awards for his management Ecopetrol and Texas A & M University.
He is the author of over 38 publications result of his investigations, which have been exhibited and / or published in venues such as the Colombian Congress of Oil and Gas, Magazine CT & F, Journal of Petroleum Technology, Colombian Congress of Geology, INGEPET, Society of Petroleum Engineers - SPE, among others.