Rise of the slashers
Latin America’s oil majors are turning to bankers to cut fat and mend desperate finances
When oil prices were booming, Latin America’s oil giants spent big chasing world-beating reserves, from Brazil and Mexico’s deep waters to Argentina’s shale deposits. Today, they are spending less time hunting for new discoveries and more time trying to repair balance sheets wrecked by oil’s downward turn and swamped by huge debts. Mending those finances demands a different skill set at the top. Petrobras, Pemex, Ecopetrol and YPF have all seen turnover in the chief executive’s office in the past 15 months. The new faces show that industrial engineering skills are out and financial engineering expertise is in. New leaders from the financial world have moved in to the top roles. They bring a
Also in this section
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
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
