AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The disruption of oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz has driven Asian buyers toward new sources and placed Latin American producers in an unprecedented position. A region that, with increased oil production in Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana, can now supply a larger share of global market demand than before.
The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has created new opportunities for Latin American oil. However, the long geographical distance and higher transportation costs remain among the main challenges for the region's oil exports to Asian markets.
Abdullah Saqr, in a report for Al Jazeera, says that crude oil exports from the South American region reached about 155 million barrels between January and May 2026, showing an increase of about 25 percent compared to the same period in 2025. This increase has been the largest recorded growth among the world's oil-exporting regions during this period.
The disruption of oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz has driven buyers toward diversifying their oil supply sources, and this very issue has increased demand for Latin American oil.
This region has a relatively established oil production infrastructure, and countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador remain among its most important oil producers.
However, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador face challenges such as the aging of oil fields and limitations in increasing production.
In contrast, Brazil continues to develop offshore fields, especially pre-salt fields.
Brazil's oil production in July reached about 4.5 million barrels per day, an increase of about 14 percent compared to January. This country is currently considered one of the most important sources of oil supply growth outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Venezuela's oil production also reached about 1.2 million barrels per day, showing an increase of about 46 percent compared to January.
At the same time, the Caribbean region can become one of the important centers of oil trade. Guyana, after discovering huge oil reserves in its offshore fields, now produces more than 900,000 barrels of oil per day.
Argentina has also raised its oil production to more than 900,000 barrels per day. Suriname currently has limited production but intends to raise its oil production to about 220,000 barrels per day by implementing a new project.
In this context, the island of Aruba in the southern Caribbean has also proposed a plan to establish an oil storage and reloading terminal with a capacity of about 11 million barrels. A plan that could strengthen this island's position in the region's oil trade and storage.
With the reduction of oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, a larger volume of Latin American crude oil has headed to Asian markets, especially China and India.
Asian economies, which are highly dependent on Persian Gulf oil, are now seeking sources in other parts of the world to meet part of their needs. From this perspective, the Strait of Hormuz crisis has provided an opportunity for Latin American oil producers to gain a larger share of global oil markets.
With the continuation of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz as one of the world's most important oil transit routes, Latin America's geographical distance from Asia is no longer an absolute barrier to the region's oil trade. Increased production in countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana, alongside Asian buyers' efforts to diversify their oil supply sources, can make Latin America's position more prominent on the new map of global oil trade.
The United States and the Zionist regime launched a war against Iran on February 28, 2026, during which the vital Strait of Hormuz was closed for oil exports and global supply chains.
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