After the car wash
A modest oil-price rise, and pro-investor reforms, should spark a recovery for Brazilian energy and Petrobras in 2017
For Brazil's oil industry, 2017 will be all about trying to escape the shadow of scandal and disappointment, and reclaiming some of the verve and momentum that drove the industry just a few years ago. How does it plan to do that? Under President Michel Temer, in office thanks to Dilma Rousseff's impeachment and then departure in September 2016, the country is pushing a wide range of pro-investment oil reforms that aim to reverse parts of the 2010 oil laws widely blamed for stifling investment and growth in the industry. The biggest step in this direction came in October 2016, when Congress overturned legislation that required state-controlled Petrobras to hold a minimum 30% operating stake i
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
