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Brazil looks to solve its energy security travails
Despite significant crude projections over the next five years, Latin America’s largest economy could be forced to start importing unless action is taken
Major upstream decline threatens Mexico’s energy security
Dire crude projections and heavy debt burden are weighing heavily on NOC Pemex
Pemex scrambles to plug the gap
The NOC’s dire financial situation and maturing fields have left the authorities with little choice but to reduce crude expectations
Brazil rides a production wave
Latin America’s largest economy expects big uptick in crude this year with the imminent arrival of several FPSOs
Hydrocarbon Processing Refining Databook 2025: Americas
The US and Canada are boosting capacity builds for renewable diesel and biofuels, while Central and South American countries are investing heavily to upgrade and expand their domestic refining sectors
Latin America’s evolving crude outlook
New supply from Argentina, Brazil and Guyana is rich in middle distillates, but optimism in terms of volume growth remains tempered by regulatory and technical risks as well as price volatility
Mexico’s energy ambitions weigh heavily on Pemex
The government’s resource nationalism is aggravating the NOC’s debt position and could yet worsen if also tasked with the decarbonisation shift
US election means little to Tehran and Caracas
Geopolitical strife embroiling Iran and political corruption in Venezuela suggest little near-term change to oil production from either of the sanctioned states
Mexico’s new president faces fiscal crunch
While greater focus on decarbonisation is likely, economic pressures and huge debt burden could squeeze energy policy ambitions
Brazil awaits contentious Equatorial Margin call
Political rancour is rising as politicians appeal for environmental licence to explore the mouth of the Amazon
Venezuela PDV Brazil Petrobras Mexico Pemex
Justin Jacobs
6 October 2017
Follow @PetroleumEcon
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Latin America's hobbled oil giants

Plagued by debt, low oil prices and political turmoil, times have been troubled for Latin America's state-run energy firms

The quiet rivalry among Latin America's three largest national oil companies (NOCs) continues to rage, though none has covered themselves in glory lately. Venezuela's PdV is mired in the country's economic and political crisis and has been on the brink of defaulting on its international debt obligations for the past 18 months. Brazil's Petrobras has been at the centre of the largest corruption scheme the nation has ever seen and been forced to dramatically curtail its world-beating growth plans. The closest thing to a bright spot for the region's big three NOCs has been Mexico's Pemex. The nation's energy reforms are opening new avenues for the company to bring in badly needed capital and te

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