Leading countries in petroleum production in Latin America 2023

In 2023, Brazil was by far the leading petroleum-producing country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with nearly 4.3 million barrels of crude oil, natural gas plant liquids (NGPL), and other related liquids produced per day. Mexico ranked second that year, with around two million barrels per day. 

The fall of an empire

Despite holding the largest oil reserves worldwide, accounting for almost one fifth of global proven reserves, Venezuela’s oil production has plummeted in recent years. Boasting more than three million barrels per day one decade earlier, the nation now ranks fifth in the Latin American region, trailing behind both Colombia and Argentina. 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 oil importer, the U.S.

A new kid on the block

In contrast to its struggling neighbor, Guyana is quickly becoming one of the highlights of the western oil sector. With promising reserves discovered in the past decade, exploration on the block operated by U.S.-American ExxonMobil began in December 2019. Two years later, production reached an average of 110 thousand barrels per day, granting Guyana a position amongst the top eight petroleum-producing countries in Latin America. ExxonMobil forecasts an output of approximately 750 thousand barrels per day by 2026.