The 4th Heavy Oil Working Group (HOWG) meeting will take place on September 22, 2015 in Bogota, Colombia, in the fringes of the Heavy Oil Latin America Conference and Exhibition (HOLA).

At the Second Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas ministerial meeting in Merida, Mexico, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford announced the 4^th HOWG. This gathering will provide an opportunity to continue to build a collaborative network within the region and gain a greater understanding of the potential of heavy oil. As the energy portfolio of our hemisphere shifts from conventional resources to unconventional resources, the meeting will serve as a valuable forum to exchange information on best practices and technological innovation on heavy oil in the Americas. This meeting is anchored to the Heavy Oil Latin America (HOLA) Exhibition & Conference to take place on September 23-25, 2015

The Permanent Mission of Canada before the OAS, along with the Organization of American States (OAS) in its ECPA Clearinghouse capacity, have provided support to the preparation of the meeting. The HOWG is an initiative launched in April 2010 at the ECPA Ministerial in Washington, DC. This Group brings together regional partners from the Americas to share experiences on heavy oil, provide updates on the current state of technology, and discuss other areas of mutual interest, such as environmental and policy issues involved with heavy oil development.