High oil prices sparked by the Iran war are accelerating Latin America’s oil boom, though the growth risks exacerbating economic inequality across the region, analysts said.
Latin America is forecast to make up around 50% of global oil production growth through 2030, according to Rystad Energy, lifting the prospects of crude exporters such as Argentina, Brazil, and Guyana.
While the region won’t “replace the Middle East,” it could “meaningfully” reduce concentration in the Gulf at a time when nations are looking to diversify energy purchases, Rystad said. However, the region’s net fuel importing nations — Chile, Colombia, and Mexico among them — and those that rely on tourism could be devastated by sustained high oil prices, compounding inflationary pressures, the IMF warned.
