LatAmOil - Latin America Oil & Gas

Rubio again calls Cuba a ‘failed state’, warns of US security threat

Rubio says Washington wants Cuba to change course as pressure deepens

Power deficit cripples Venezuela’s oil heartland of Zulia as infrastructure falters

Daily life in Maracaibo has been rendered unpredictable as Zulia state struggles with a severe electricity shortfall, forcing residents to navigate routine blackouts lasting anywhere from six to 16 hours

How Alejandro Betancourt rebuilt his Venezuelan oil empire

Alejandro Betancourt, a controversial Venezuelan businessman often labeled a "bolichico", has emerged as a key player in the oil sector restructuring promoted by the Donald Trump administration in Venezuela

Colombia's Ecopetrol's Gutiérrez starts tenure as investors weigh oil-sector experience

Joaquín Gutiérrez Caballero began his tenure as Ecopetrol’s president on September 28, with investors expected to focus on how the new chief executive addresses his limited direct experience in the oil and gas industry

Argentina threatens legal action over Falklands Sea Lion oil project

Argentina has threatened to launch international legal proceedings against Britain unless work on the Sea Lion oil project off the Falkland Islands is halted within two weeks, escalating a long-running sovereignty dispute between the two countries.

Argentina’s Chevron plans $14bn investment to triple Vaca Muerta output by 2035

Chevron plans to invest about $13.8bn in Argentina through 2035 to triple its oil production in Vaca Muerta, with the US company’s 100%-owned El Trapial field in Neuquén set to become the centre of the expansion under the country’s RIGI scheme.

Argentina’s YPF targets record 1mn bpd as Vaca Muerta expands

Argentina’s state-controlled oil company YPF expects its crude production to reach 1mn barrels per day for the first time in its history in the coming years, while the country’s oil exports could rise to $18bn.

Mexico boosts petrol tax relief, keeps diesel fully exempt to cap pump prices

Mexico is raising fiscal support for petrol while keeping diesel fully relieved of tax, El País reported, as the government tries to avoid a sharp jump in pump prices amid a global energy squeeze.

Mexico's Pemex contains dark discharge from Madero refinery into Pánuco River

Mexican authorities have inspected and contained a dark discharge from state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex)'s Madero refinery into the Pánuco River, in the north-east of the country.

Pemex to need at least $10bn a year in state support for up to five years, Moody's says

Mexico's state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will need government support of at least $10bn a year over the next three to five years, and for longer if its operations do not improve.

Colombia declares temporary gas rationing after SPEC LNG fault

Colombia declared temporary and scheduled natural-gas rationing on September 25 after a technical problem at the regasification infrastructure operated by SPEC LNG reduced the availability of imported gas, the Ministry of Mines and Energy

Colombia orders gas rationing as SPEC LNG outage curbs imports

Colombia ordered a temporary, nationwide gas-rationing programme on September 25 after a technical problem at SPEC LNG reduced the country’s ability to receive imported gas, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said

Chevron to invest $13.8bn in key Argentine hydrocarbon field

US energy major Chevron is preparing a $13.8bn investment under Argentina’s newly implemented Large Investment Incentive Regime to develop the El Trapial field in northern Neuquén.

Trinidad and Tobago confirms start date for crucial Aphrodite gas project

Trinidad and Tobago’s wholly state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) confirmed that the Aphrodite offshore gas development is expected to produce first gas by the second quarter of 2027.

Bolivia launches fuel-linked financing to steer transport from diesel to gas

Bolivia has created a national programme, "PATRIA", to help public transport operators replace ageing vehicles and switch from diesel to compressed natural gas (GNV).

Guyana private sector faces new test as gas industry takes shape

Guyana’s next energy phase will test whether the local private sector can turn rapid oil-sector growth into the skills, services and industrial capacity needed for natural gas development.

Norway’s Shearwater wins three-year seismic contract offshore South America

Shearwater Geoservices has won a three-year ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic acquisition contract offshore South America from what it described as a major oil and gas company.

Brazil’s Edge plans $192mn LNG terminal at Brazil's Rio Grande port

Edge, the natural gas unit of Brazilian conglomerate Cosan, will sign a memorandum with the government of Rio Grande do Sul state to study a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the port of Rio Grande.

US-Cuba cargo traffic expands as shipping activity rises

Colombia's Ecopetrol to pursue fracking and offshore exploration under new president

Ecopetrol plans to resume oil and gas exploration through conventional and unconventional projects, including fracking, while continuing offshore development under new president Joaquín Gutiérrez, who set the strategy at his inauguration

Stalled Citgo sale holds a key to US leverage and Venezuela’s economic recovery

A court-mandated $9bn transaction to sell Citgo Petroleum Corp. to Elliott Management and startup affiliate Amber Energy has ground to a halt, as the US Treasury Department continually shields the Houston-based refiner from seizure by creditor

Venezuelan crude output could reach around 1.6mn barrels per day by 2028, says Rystad

Venezuela’s upstream petroleum industry is drawing its most diverse array of international energy companies and foreign capital in decades

Colombia cuts diplomatic ties with Iran over alleged terrorism links, Tehran rejects move

Gas-tastrophe! Global energy chiefs drill for more while their own seeps away

The global gas industry is spending billions of dollars drilling new fields, constructing LNG terminals and securing supply routes while allowing huge quantities of the commodity it already produces to leak, vent or burn into the atmosphere.