Consulting Partner | Operations, Asset Management & Transformation
Calgary | MSc Petroleum Refining, Gas & Marketing, BSc Mechanical Engineering
Juan Manuel Galarza is a senior upstream Oil & Gas operations and asset management leader with more than two decades of international experience delivering execution excellence in complex, high-consequence environments. As a Consulting Partner at Orion Energy Consulting, he brings frontline operational credibility to high-impact advisory engagements—helping clients translate strategy into safe, measurable, and sustainable field performance.
His career spans leadership roles across the Americas, including Canada, and North Africa, with hands-on experience in rainforest operations, Sahara Desert developments, U.S. shale plays, and Arctic conditions. Juan Manuel has held senior operational positions within Repsol’s largest and most demanding producing assets in Libya and Algeria, where he led multidisciplinary teams under stringent safety, reliability, and production requirements. He has contributed to record production performance across assets in Ecuador, Libya, Algeria, and Colombia, combining disciplined execution with strong team engagement and process-safety leadership.
Juan Manuel has led operational readiness, commissioning, and start-up of a $3.1 billion acid-gas development, achieving first gas on schedule and on budget with 35 million man-hours LTI-free. His experience also includes asset optimization and value creation initiatives, such as a 40% OPEX reduction following a Texas shale acquisition and leadership of major asset divestments totaling over $770 million in Canada.
Aligned with Orion’s consulting, talent, and technology-enabled transformation model, Juan Manuel partners closely with client teams to unlock performance—bringing credibility earned both in the field and at the executive level. Based in Calgary, he combines operational rigor, pragmatic leadership, and digital awareness to deliver durable outcomes.
He is fluent in Spanish and English, with professional proficiency in French. He holds an M.Sc. in Petroleum Refining, Gas & Marketing (ISE, Spain), a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (ESPE, Ecuador), and a professional certification in Data for Business (ISDI, Spain).
