Matthew Smith

Latest articles from Matthew

• Will COVID Derail The World’s Hottest Offshore Oil Boom?

  Published 20 April 2021 | viewed 2,824 times

  During a difficult 2020, Brazil’s hydrocarbon sector demonstrated its resilience in the face of a price crash and the COVID-19 pandemic. Even those events along…

• 2021 Will Be Another Disastrous Year For Colombia’s Oil Industry

  Published 18 April 2021 | viewed 5,455 times

  The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Colombia and its economy, including the vital energy sector, particularly hard. After implementing one of the world’s longest pandemic lockdowns…

• Ecuador’s Shock Presidential Election Result May Save Its Oil Industry

  Published 13 April 2021 | viewed 2,837 times

  Ecuador’s beaten-down petroleum industry has been struggling to recover from a savage 2020 where pipeline failures, the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption scandals, and heightened political uncertainty…

• Could A Comeback In Venezuelan Oil Crash The Markets?

  Published 12 April 2021 | viewed 5,325 times

  Crude oil prices had a rocky start to 2021. There are plenty of wildcards which will continue to fuel price volatility for the foreseeable future,…

• Ecuador's Oil Industry Desperately Needs A Miracle

  Published 08 April 2021 | viewed 2,227 times

  Over the last decade it has been a wild ride for Ecuador’s trouble-plagued but economically crucial oil industry. Former president Rafael Correa’s heavy-handed policies, centered…

• Is Venezuela Preparing For A Military Strike On Colombia?

  Published 05 April 2021 | viewed 7,704 times

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is well-known for his saber-rattling, much of which is designed to distract Venezuelans from the severe economic crisis sweeping the country…

• Peru’s Oil Industry Is Key To Its Pandemic Recovery

  Published 31 March 2021 | viewed 1,704 times

  Peru has struggled for over a decade to build its hydrocarbon sector and boost crude oil reserves and production. 2020 was particularly difficult for the…

• Colombia Is Preparing For A Fracking Boom

  Published 29 March 2021 | viewed 5,624 times

  It was roughly a decade ago when hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, was identified as a crucial means for boosting Colombia’s meager hydrocarbon reserves and…

• Can Venezuela’s Oil Industry Really Rebound?

  Published 27 March 2021 | viewed 3,492 times

  There are signs that the crisis engulfing Venezuela’s shattered petroleum industry could start to ease. In a recent televised address, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro stated…

• World’s Newest Oil Hotspot Undeterred By Poor Drilling Results

  Published 24 March 2021 | viewed 20,088 times

  After a series of notable oil discoveries in offshore Guyana and then Suriname over the last six years the impoverished South American nations became a…

• Colombia’s Coal Mining Ambitions Could Backfire

  Published 20 March 2021 | viewed 2,598 times

  As many developed and even emerging nations aggressively pursue renewable energy targets with a focus on winding down the extraction of fossil fuels, strife-torn Colombia…

• Heavy-Handed Government Intervention To Hurt Brazil’s Oil Boom

  Published 18 March 2021 | viewed 3,390 times

  A spat over fuel prices last month saw Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro replace the CEO of national oil company Petrobras Roberto Castello Branco, who is popular…

• Argentina’s Shale Patch Is Poised For A Comeback

  Published 11 March 2021 | viewed 4,178 times

  After a harsh 2020 and slow post-pandemic recovery Argentina’s hydrocarbon sector has come roaring back to life. A combination of substantially higher oil prices, government…

• Why Biden Needs To Change His Tune On Venezuela

  Published 10 March 2021 | viewed 5,112 times

  Since the U.S. presidential election started in earnest toward the end of 2020 there has been considerable speculation regarding President Biden’s plans for crisis-torn Venezuela.…

• Can Colombia Cash In On Higher Oil Prices?

  Published 09 March 2021 | viewed 3,157 times

  Latin America’s fourth largest economy, Colombia, remains under considerable pressure. Even the latest oil price rally, which saw the international Brent benchmark gain 36%, has…

• Violence Continues To Plague Colombia’s Oil Industry

  Published 07 March 2021 | viewed 3,743 times

  There has long been an association between petroleum production, political repression, poor governance, and increased internal conflict. For strife-torn oil-dependent Colombia, which is claimed to…

• Have Oil Majors Given Up On French Guiana?

  Published 06 March 2021 | viewed 11,309 times

  A tiny remaining bastion of France’s former colonial empire, French Guiana in northeastern South America, was once thought to possess tremendous petroleum potential which could…

• Is This The World’s Next Big Offshore Oil Region?

  Published 03 March 2021 | viewed 33,169 times

  The COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 crude oil price crash and ongoing global petroleum supply glut have done little to slow the growth of South America’s massive…

• Can Peru's Oil Industry Recover From A Disastrous 2020?

  Published 02 March 2021 | viewed 1,871 times

  Peru’s oil industry is in crisis, with 2020 being one of its worst years on record. It was a year marred by the harsh fallout…

• Suriname Looks To Ramp Up Oil Production In A Big Way

  Published 24 February 2021 | viewed 8,645 times

  Saudi Arabia’s surprise January 2021 one million barrel per day production cut has sparked a sense of bullishness over the outlook for crude oil. The…