Latin America: leading countries in petroleum production 2019

In 2019, Brazil was the leading country in total production of petroleum in Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 3.6 million barrels of crude oil, natural gas plant liquids (NGPL), and other related liquids produced per day. Mexico ranked second that year, with around 1.9 million barrels per day, trailed by Venezuela, with under one million barrels per day.

The downfall of an empire

Despite holding the largest oil reserves worldwide, representing almost one fifth of global proven reserves, Venezuela’s oil production has plummeted in recent years. Although it still ranks third in Latin America, the country’s oil production in 2019 amounted to less than one third of the output a decade earlier. One of the founding members of OPEC, Venezuela’s oil sector faces a myriad of challenges, from insufficient funding and a national political crisis, to tightening sanctions from its main importer, the U.S.

The future is not looking so bright

In the first months of 2020, crude oil prices dropped dramatically, resulting from an unprecedented decline in demand in the face of lockdown measures implemented globally in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The average barrel price of Merey oil, Venezuela’s reference blend, dropped as low as seven U.S. dollars per barrel, down from an average of more than 50 dollars in the previous year. Similarly, Mexico’s export crude oil blend registered a low of 8.5 dollars per barrel. As prices crash and oil stocks rise, agreements for a cut down in production by the world’s largest producers have already been implemented.