Guillermo Lasso, Ecuador’s president
Letter from South America: Outlier Ecuador offers alternative path
The country has been working to attract renewed upstream foreign investment since quitting Opec
Ecuador may remain one of the few right-wing governments left in South America by the end of 2022. Elections are looming in Colombia and Brazil, where leftist candidates lead in the polls, and the political landscape is changing significantly in the region—which will no doubt affect hydrocarbons policies. Already, the frontrunner for the Colombian presidency has called for an ‘anti-oil’ bloc to be created by aligned South American governments, an exercise akin to cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face for commodity export-dependent economies. But all signs now point to the fact that Ecuador will forge a different path, at least in the near term. The surprise victory of Guillermo Lasso, a
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
