Markets

The Latin American energy landscape is currently undergoing significant transformation, with key developments shaping the regional and global oil and gas markets. 

The oil cartel is deliberately increasing oil production not to trigger a price war but to meet rising seasonal demand in the Middle East and to accommodate a planned expansion of 2.1MM b/d by Dec. 2026.

South Africa has launched the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), a new state-owned oil enterprise formed from the merger of PetroSA, iGas, and the Strategic Fuel Fund.

There are divergent views on oil demand growth amidst OPEC+ supply adjustments and non-OPEC+ production forecast revisions.

The core group of eight OPEC+ members (Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman) agreed on May 3 to further accelerate the unwinding of their voluntary production cuts, increasing their combined crude quotas by 411K b/d in Jun.

ExxonMobil's first quarter 2025 results revealed a significant increase in oil and gas production, averaging 4.551MM boe/d.

Analysts and market observers are closely watching the upcoming OPEC+ meeting, initially scheduled for May. 5, but moved forward to May 3.

Companies are beginning to assess the financial repercussions of President Trump's trade tariffs, which have contributed to market volatility, lower oil prices, and recession concerns.

Despite increasing supply competition from US shale and OPEC+ producers, coupled with a weaker global oil price outlook, Guyana remains steadfast in its ambitious plan to double oil production by early 2028.

Reports surfaced indicating that Saudi Arabia might be preparing for a shift in its oil production strategy, potentially leading to another oil price war.