Latin American oil exports surge as Hormuz crisis reshapes global trade

The near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz has turned Latin America into one of the biggest beneficiaries of a convulsion in global energy markets, with the region's top producers boosting output and exports as buyers rush to find alternatives to disrupted Middle Eastern supply.

A Chokepoint Shut Down

Daily crude traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen from roughly 20 million barrels per day before the U.S.-Iran conflict began in February to fewer than 4 million bpd in early August, according to AS/COA. Total Middle East exports have averaged just 9.5 million bpd this month, less than half the 21 million bpd shipped in 2025, according to data from analytics firm Kpler cited by Reuters. The collapse in flows has kept crude prices stabilized around $90 a barrel — roughly 50 percent above where they started the year.as-coa+1

The disruption has rippled through shipping markets. Benchmark charter rates for supertankers carrying oil from the Middle East to China have surged to about $490,000 per day, nearly ten times higher than at the start of the year, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. The spike reflects both the dangers of transiting conflict zones and surging demand for tankers to haul crude from more distant suppliers, including Brazil.reuters+1

Latin America Steps In

Led by Brazil Petrobras – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. ↘ 0.38%, Guyana, and Venezuela, the region has delivered the largest increase in oil exports of any producing bloc this year, reinforcing the Atlantic basin's growing role in global supply, Reuters reported in June. Latin America, which accounts for about 10 percent of global production, was already projected to be the main source of non-OPEC supply growth in 2026, according to Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. The war has accelerated that trajectory.energypolicy.columbia+1

Brazil maintained output above 3.9 million barrels per day in early 2026, up nearly 16 percent year-over-year, buoyed by pre-salt deepwater expansions. Argentina's production climbed to 865,000 bpd in February, a 15 percent annual jump driven by the Vaca Muerta shale formation. Latin American crude has also been gaining ground in Asia, a market historically dominated by Gulf producers. The region is expected to account for roughly half of global oil production growth this year, according to BNamericas.riotimesonline+2

Uneven Gains, Lingering Risks

The windfall is far from uniform. AS/COA cautioned that the net macroeconomic effect varies among the region's producers. Fuel-importing economies in Central America and the Caribbean face higher import bills, currency depreciation, and food inflation compounded by rerouted shipping lanes that add days to deliveries.caspianpost+1

With the interim U.S.-Iran ceasefire having collapsed and neither side showing willingness to compromise, Reuters columnist Ron Bousso wrote that the disruption increasingly "resembles a structural reshaping of global oil trade" rather than a temporary shock. For Latin America's oil exporters, that reshaping has, for now, translated into fuller tankers and fatter revenues — but the durability of those gains depends on a conflict whose end remains nowhere in sight.reuters