Brazil could be an energy trailblazer
The oil powerhouse will not just join the top five crude exporters in the coming years, it may be a model for how petrostates balance growth, policy and sustainability
Brazil was considered a marginal oil producer only two decades ago. However, thanks to its vast offshore resources, NOC Petrobras’ deepwater expertise and institutional reforms in the late 1990s, it was propelled into the ranks of leading global suppliers. Today, the country is the largest Latin American producer but remains at a crossroads between expanding its oil and gas dominance and balancing it with the imperatives of the energy transition. As with most oil and gas companies in Latin America, Brazil’s oil history started with a nationalist vision. Petrobras was founded in 1953 under President Getulio Vargas as a monopoly to enhance the country’s economic sovereignty and had the slogan
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
