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Matthew Smith

Contributor since: 09 Feb 2018

Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith is Oilprice.com's Latin-America correspondent. Matthew is a veteran investor and investment management professional. He obtained a Master of Law degree and is currently located in Latin America. Matthew writes on oil and gas, mining and infrastructure.

Latest articles from Matthew

  • Ecuador’s Shock Presidential Election Result May Save Its Oil Industry

    Published 13 April 2021 | viewed 2,831 times

    Ecuador’s beaten-down petroleum industry has been struggling to recover from a savage 2020 where pipeline failures, the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption scandals, and heightened political uncertainty…

  • Could A Comeback In Venezuelan Oil Crash The Markets?

    Published 12 April 2021 | viewed 5,320 times

    Crude oil prices had a rocky start to 2021. There are plenty of wildcards which will continue to fuel price volatility for the foreseeable future,…

  • Ecuador's Oil Industry Desperately Needs A Miracle

    Published 08 April 2021 | viewed 2,217 times

    Over the last decade it has been a wild ride for Ecuador’s trouble-plagued but economically crucial oil industry. Former president Rafael Correa’s heavy-handed policies, centered…

  • Is Venezuela Preparing For A Military Strike On Colombia?

    Published 05 April 2021 | viewed 7,690 times

    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is well-known for his saber-rattling, much of which is designed to distract Venezuelans from the severe economic crisis sweeping the country…

  • Peru’s Oil Industry Is Key To Its Pandemic Recovery

    Published 31 March 2021 | viewed 1,697 times

    Peru has struggled for over a decade to build its hydrocarbon sector and boost crude oil reserves and production. 2020 was particularly difficult for the…

  • Colombia Is Preparing For A Fracking Boom

    Published 29 March 2021 | viewed 5,609 times

    It was roughly a decade ago when hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, was identified as a crucial means for boosting Colombia’s meager hydrocarbon reserves and…

  • Can Venezuela’s Oil Industry Really Rebound?

    Published 27 March 2021 | viewed 3,476 times

    There are signs that the crisis engulfing Venezuela’s shattered petroleum industry could start to ease. In a recent televised address, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro stated…

  • World’s Newest Oil Hotspot Undeterred By Poor Drilling Results

    Published 24 March 2021 | viewed 20,078 times

    After a series of notable oil discoveries in offshore Guyana and then Suriname over the last six years the impoverished South American nations became a…

  • Colombia’s Coal Mining Ambitions Could Backfire

    Published 20 March 2021 | viewed 2,586 times

    As many developed and even emerging nations aggressively pursue renewable energy targets with a focus on winding down the extraction of fossil fuels, strife-torn Colombia…

  • Heavy-Handed Government Intervention To Hurt Brazil’s Oil Boom

    Published 18 March 2021 | viewed 3,373 times

    A spat over fuel prices last month saw Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro replace the CEO of national oil company Petrobras Roberto Castello Branco, who is popular…

  • Argentina’s Shale Patch Is Poised For A Comeback

    Published 11 March 2021 | viewed 4,170 times

    After a harsh 2020 and slow post-pandemic recovery Argentina’s hydrocarbon sector has come roaring back to life. A combination of substantially higher oil prices, government…

  • Why Biden Needs To Change His Tune On Venezuela

    Published 10 March 2021 | viewed 5,098 times

    Since the U.S. presidential election started in earnest toward the end of 2020 there has been considerable speculation regarding President Biden’s plans for crisis-torn Venezuela.…

  • Can Colombia Cash In On Higher Oil Prices?

    Published 09 March 2021 | viewed 3,149 times

    Latin America’s fourth largest economy, Colombia, remains under considerable pressure. Even the latest oil price rally, which saw the international Brent benchmark gain 36%, has…

  • Violence Continues To Plague Colombia’s Oil Industry

    Published 07 March 2021 | viewed 3,727 times

    There has long been an association between petroleum production, political repression, poor governance, and increased internal conflict. For strife-torn oil-dependent Colombia, which is claimed to…

  • Have Oil Majors Given Up On French Guiana?

    Published 06 March 2021 | viewed 11,191 times

    A tiny remaining bastion of France’s former colonial empire, French Guiana in northeastern South America, was once thought to possess tremendous petroleum potential which could…

  • Is This The World’s Next Big Offshore Oil Region?

    Published 03 March 2021 | viewed 33,145 times

    The COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 crude oil price crash and ongoing global petroleum supply glut have done little to slow the growth of South America’s massive…

  • Can Peru's Oil Industry Recover From A Disastrous 2020?

    Published 02 March 2021 | viewed 1,867 times

    Peru’s oil industry is in crisis, with 2020 being one of its worst years on record. It was a year marred by the harsh fallout…

  • Suriname Looks To Ramp Up Oil Production In A Big Way

    Published 24 February 2021 | viewed 8,638 times

    Saudi Arabia’s surprise January 2021 one million barrel per day production cut has sparked a sense of bullishness over the outlook for crude oil. The…

  • Is This The Beginning Of The End For Ecuador's Oil Industry?

    Published 16 February 2021 | viewed 8,008 times

    Major energy companies are becoming increasingly sensitive to drilling in high-risk environments such as the Arctic, Barents Sea and the Amazon Basin. A combination of…

  • Is Biden Preparing To Ease Restrictions On Venezuelan Oil?

    Published 15 February 2021 | viewed 5,982 times

    In a surprise move, President Biden has withdrawn U.S. support for a Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in war-torn Yemen, describing the country’s bitter…

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