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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

  • Oil Dethroned? Cocaine Close To Becoming Colombia's Top Export

    Published 27 September 2023 | viewed 5,984 times

     A controversial article from news conglomerate Bloomberg claims that cocaine is poised to overtake oil and become Colombia’s largest export. This worrying report came on the heels…

  • Suriname’s Oil Boom Finally Gets The Green Light

    Published 26 September 2023 | viewed 16,678 times

    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…

  • Venezuela Is Not A Solution To Colombia’s Natural Gas Crisis

    Published 20 September 2023 | viewed 2,934 times

    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…

  • Exxon Is The Biggest Winner In Guyana’s Epic Oil Boom

    Published 18 September 2023 | viewed 5,043 times

    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…

  • The 5 South American Countries With The Largest Natural Gas Reserves

    Published 14 September 2023 | viewed 8,772 times

    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…

  • Colombia Is On The Brink Of A Natural Gas Crisis

    Published 12 September 2023 | viewed 15,428 times

    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…

  • U.S. Sanctions Against Venezuela Have Failed

    Published 11 September 2023 | viewed 4,085 times

    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…

  • Guyana's Oil Boom Challenges OPEC+ Dominance

    Published 08 September 2023 | viewed 65,995 times

    In a mere four years, Guyana went from first discovery to first oil, a rapid timeframe in an industry where it can take years to…

  • Vaca Muerta Oil Boom Could Change Argentina's Economic Landscape

    Published 08 September 2023 | viewed 11,775 times

    In a surprise development, there are indications that the economically strife-torn country of Argentina will emerge as a major regional energy player. The exploitation of…

  • Brazil's Pre-Salt Oil Gains Unprecedented Global Popularity

    Published 31 August 2023 | viewed 3,591 times

    Despite financial markets being roiled by leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s, known as Lula, October 2022 electoral victory, there are signs that Brazil’s president…

  • How Colombia's Booming Cocaine Business Is Driving Rampant Oil Theft

    Published 29 August 2023 | viewed 3,775 times

    Surging petroleum theft is weighing on Colombia’s beaten-down oil industry, which is beset by geopolitical headwinds on all sides. While attacks on energy infrastructure in the strife-torn…

  • Cartels Take Over As Ecuador's New Power Brokers

    Published 29 August 2023 | viewed 2,552 times

    Ecuador, once an island of peace in the strife-torn Northern Andean region of South America, is caught in the midst of drug-fueled violence, which is…

  • Suriname Oil Boom Back On Track As New Discoveries Excite Investors

    Published 28 August 2023 | viewed 16,017 times

    Suriname’s President Chan Santokhi had pinned his hopes on a massive oil boom to reinvigorate the former Dutch colony’s crisis-prone economy. Those hopes were dashed…

  • Vaca Muerta's Sweet Crude Attracts Global Energy Giants

    Published 24 August 2023 | viewed 12,097 times

    Argentina’s shale oil and gas boom is gaining momentum despite the political and economic dysfunction engulfing Latin America’s third-largest economy. There are signs that Argentina…

  • Can Guyana Avoid The Oil Curse?

    Published 18 August 2023 | viewed 6,177 times

    Tiny Guyana, a former British colony in South America of less than one million, is on the cusp of becoming a major global oil exporter.…

  • From Oil Boom To Cocaine Crisis: Ecuador's Steep Decline

    Published 16 August 2023 | viewed 3,417 times

    Cocaine-fueled violence is sweeping across the tiny South American country of Ecuador. The crisis-prone Andean country of less than 20 million, which enjoyed a massive…

  • Petro’s Plan To End Oil Exploration Threatens Colombia’s Energy Security

    Published 10 August 2023 | viewed 2,368 times

    Colombia’s beaten-down oil industry is struggling to recover from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, with the tempo of operations and production lower than in 2019. The 2022 electoral…

  • Venezuela’s Oil Industry Is Killing South America's Oldest Lake

    Published 09 August 2023 | viewed 2,692 times

    Lake Maracaibo, which is South America’s oldest lake and forms part of a crucial regional ecosystem, is dying. The five thousand square miles ecologically diverse…

  • New Drilling Data Reignites Suriname's Oil Dream

    Published 08 August 2023 | viewed 6,231 times

    After five commercial oil discoveries in Surname’s offshore Block 58, the government in Paramaribo was optimistic the tiny, impoverished country was on track to enjoy…

  • The Fall Of Ecuador's Oil Empire

    Published 05 August 2023 | viewed 5,608 times

    A 2005 to 2015 oil boom under the stewardship of leftist President Rafael Correa pulled Ecuador, one of South America’s poorest countries, out of poverty.…

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