Matthew Smith

Latest articles from Matthew

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

  Published 03 March 2021 | viewed 33,224 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 1,889 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 8,678 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 8,074 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 6,032 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  In a surprise move, President Biden has withdrawn U.S. support for a Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in war-torn Yemen, describing the country’s bitter…

• Argentina Narrowly Avoids Another Oil Industry Crisis

  Published 11 February 2021 | viewed 5,622 times

  Crisis-torn Argentina has managed to avert another disaster in its economically crucial hydrocarbon sector. Many institutional investors are unhappy with Buenos Aires’ sovereign debt restructuring…

• The Oil Price Slump Crippled Colombia’s Economic Recovery

  Published 10 February 2021 | viewed 4,587 times

  Colombia is not a country usually associated with crude oil. Low proven petroleum reserves and falling production see Colombia rank well behind many of the…

• Can Exxon Bounce Back From A Disasterous 2020?

  Published 09 February 2021 | viewed 9,797 times

  Globally integrated energy supermajor ExxonMobil was severely mauled during 2020. The company reported a massive 2020 full-year loss of $22 billion, its worst performance in…

• How U.S. Sanctions Against Venezuela Backfired

  Published 07 February 2021 | viewed 25,963 times

  Harsh U.S. sanctions, a crumbling economy, and near collapsed petroleum industry have done little, if anything, to loosen President Maduro’s grip on power in Venezuela.…

• Will Saudi Arabia’s Surprise Production Cut Backfire?

  Published 02 February 2021 | viewed 5,278 times

  Global energy markets and industry insiders believe that it was a good idea for Saudi Arabia to slash oil production by one million barrels daily…

• The Guyana-Suriname Basin Could Be The Last Big Oil Boom

  Published 01 February 2021 | viewed 28,849 times

  The tiny South American countries of Guyana and Suriname are the focus of Latin America’s latest oil boom. A slew of oil discoveries by ExxonMobil…

• What Will The Death Of Keystone XL Mean For Canada?

  Published 30 January 2021 | viewed 16,510 times

  President Biden’s decision to ax the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which had been approved by his predecessor, is a tremendous blow for Canada’s energy sector…

• Is Maduro Trying To Steal Guyana’s Oil Riches?

  Published 27 January 2021 | viewed 6,534 times

  For roughly two decades since Hugo Chavez won the Venezuelan presidency and commenced his socialist Bolivarian revolution, the country, which was once Latin America’s largest…

• Is Brazil A Threat To OPEC?

  Published 27 January 2021 | viewed 4,807 times

  As far back as the early 1980s, Brazil’s national oil company Petrobras as well as the government were aware of the vast untapped oil wealth…

• Chevron Could Be Key To Rebuilding Venezuela’s Oil Industry

  Published 26 January 2021 | viewed 9,911 times

  Despite outside assistance from Russia, China and Iran, the embattled socialist regime of President Maduro has proven incapable of rebuilding Venezuela’s once-mighty petroleum industry. According…

• Will Argentina’s Vaca Muerta Shale Play Ever Recover?

  Published 21 January 2021 | viewed 4,983 times

  Last year was tough for the global oil industry as the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing oil supply glut rocked petroleum-dependent emerging economies, notably in…

• Angola Looks To Replicate Brazil’s Offshore Oil Boom

  Published 19 January 2021 | viewed 6,238 times

  The sub-Saharan country of Angola is not one which readily springs to mind when thinking about oil producing nations. The deeply impoverished former Portuguese colony,…

• U.S. Shale Is Gaining Influence Over Oil Markets

  Published 17 January 2021 | viewed 27,682 times

  OPEC was formed in 1960 by founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. For a brief period, the petroleum cartel became the dominant…

• The Hottest Oil Basin In The World

  Published 14 January 2021 | viewed 12,085 times

  What is fast becoming the world’s hottest offshore oil play, the Guyana-Suriname Basin, has entered the headlines once again. Hot on the heels of ExxonMobil…

• Why Petrobras Is One Of 2021’s Most Exciting Oil Companies

  Published 12 January 2021 | viewed 6,316 times

  Sharply weaker oil prices and the global COIVD-19 pandemic had little material impact on Brazil’s massive offshore oil boom. Even the fact that the oil…