Matthew Smith

After a flurry of oil discoveries in Suriname’s offshore waters since 2020, it was believed the impoverished former Dutch colony, among the poorest countries in South America, would shortly join neighboring Guyana to benefit from an oil boom of epic pr...

After entering office on August 7th, 2023, Colombia’s leftist President, Gustavo Petr, implemented his plan to cease issuing new hydrocarbon exploration contracts and ban the controversial extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing. It is feared thos...

South American microstate Guyana recently emerged as what is being described as the world’s hottest offshore frontier oil play. A consortium led by ExxonMobil controls Guyana’s prolific offshore 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, where more than 30 world...

South America is fast emerging, once again, as one of the world’s hottest drilling locations, with the continent believed to contain considerable volumes of commercially extractable natural gas. While offshore Guyana is garnering the lion’s share of at...

A sharp decline in energy sector investment and a lack of world-class hydrocarbon discoveries is threatening strife-torn Colombia with an energy crisis. Natural gas shortages emerged in 2015 when the Andean country suffered a serious drought and ensuin...

Despite strict U.S. sanctions implemented by former President Donald Trump in January 2019 that cut Venezuela off from global energy and capital markets, the country’s economy has returned to growth. This, along with Maduro effectively sidelining Venez...

Despite strict U.S. sanctions implemented by former President Donald Trump in January 2019 that cut Venezuela off from global energy and capital markets, the country’s economy has returned to growth. This, along with Maduro effectively sidelining Venez...