Political turmoil 'challenging' LatAm energy security

Latin America must overcome political turbulence to guarantee its energy self-sufficiency over the medium to long term, a new study has warned.

Rising oil and gas production in Brazil and Argentina has been offset by plummeting output in Venezuela, according to a report published Thursday by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP).

"In Central and South America, the challenge will be to remain self-sufficient as political turmoil continues and production remains stable," the London-based body said.

Despite sitting on the world's largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela has seen crude output fall by almost 1Mb/d in the past two years.

The decline coincides with a regional migration crisis as scores of Venezuelans flee from acute food shortages, hyperinflation and rampant violence.

Analysts blame the country's problems on the failed policies of President Nicolás Maduro, who began a second six-year term in May following elections that were widely denounced as rigged.

Conversely, oil and gas production has risen steadily in Brazil - driven by vast pre-salt fields deep below the Atlantic - and in Argentina, where output has been boosted by the prolific Vaca Muerta shale play.

"The Santos and Campos basins in Brazil ... offer some of the most promising exploration areas available to the industry worldwide," said Margareth Ovrum, the Brazil production head of Norway's Equinor.

"We are very excited about the potential and look forward to actively participating in the efforts to develop new oil and gas resources in these prolific basins."

"If proof of the potential for gas production in the region were required, the development of Vaca Muerta in Argentina is an excellent example, as it has helped increase the nation's gas production by 18% over the past four years," said Miguel Moyano, the upstream director of Latin American and Caribbean oil and gas industry association Arpel.

"In Brazil, gas from offshore operations represents around 83% of national production. Output from the pre-salt geological formation has reached 50% of the overall national output and is the main driver for higher production in Brazil."