Latest update October 9th, 2026 6:21 PM
Guyana powers South America’s rise
…as global oil markets seek new supply
(Reuters) As global oil markets focus on disruptions in the Middle East and surging U.S. production, a quieter but increasingly significant story is unfolding closer to home: South America is rapidly emerging as a major force in global crude supply, with Guyana playing a pivotal role.
Alongside Brazil and Venezuela, Guyana has helped drive the largest increase in oil exports of any producing region so far this year, reshaping global trade flows and strengthening the Atlantic Basin’s importance in meeting world energy demand.
The shift has been gradual, dispersed and largely uncoordinated. But in aggregate, it is turning South America into a de facto swing supplier hiding in plain sight.
The collapse in crude exports from the Middle East so far this year has rightly dominated oil market attention.
Producers in the region have accounted for around 43 percent of all seaborne oil exports over the past decade, data from commodities intelligence firm Kpler shows, anchoring global crude trade.
But the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March has slashed shipments from the region by more than a quarter during January to May compared to the year before, leaving a supply shortfall of roughly 675 million barrels.
That gap is too large for any single producer to quickly replace, forcing markets to lean heavily on inventories. It has also amplified the importance of rising supply elsewhere -notably from South America.
Several exporters have lifted shipments this year, helping to offset part of the disruption.
But nowhere has the increase been more pronounced than in South America, where total exports have posted their largest ever year-over-year gain, rising by around 155 million barrels to eclipse the growth of all other regions combined.
Among the 10 nations to increase crude oil exports the most so far in 2026, the United States ranks top, registering a nearly 112-million-barrel increase during January to May compared to the same months in 2025, according to Kpler.
However, South America’s contribution has been both broader and more structurally significant.
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