Manuel Zúñiga is a petroleum engineer with 30 years of industry experience. Mr. Zúñiga was a founder and the President and Chief Executive Officer of BPZ when oil was discovered in the Corvina field of the Z-1 Block, brought online in less than two years using the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit ever used in Peru and developed with a buoyant drilling and production platform. Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Mr Zúñiga had been the President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managers of PetroTal LLC since January 2016.
He started his career as a junior engineer with Occidental Petroleum where he worked in Block 1-AB, located in the northern jungle of Peru. He was born and raised in Talara, Peru and has led exploration and development projects for oil and gas in Peru, as well as other countries in Latin America. He has established relationships with operators in Peru, including owners of the targeted assets, and has good relationships with government agencies in the region. Mr. Zúñiga holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Masters of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.