For the Region, Oil is Still King

Skyrocketing oil prices made 2008 the best of times and the not-quite best of times for oil companies in Latin America.

On the positive side, who could argue with crude oil prices that pushed revenue for the three biggest companies in Latin America to more than $100 billion, equal to the Ecuadorean economy and larger than the economies of every country in Central America, as well as Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic? Certainly there were few complaints from the state-managed Brazilian company, Petroleo Brasileiro – which stumbled upon the largest find in oil reserves since 2000, which has produced a gusher in international loans. But the situation could have been better for Petróleos Mexicanos and Petróleos de Venezuela if the two state-owned companies were still producing high levels of oil. But both companies are suffering from a drop in oil production and require sharp increases in investment to boost production. The same can be said of privately-held Repsol YPF.

At-A-Glance

Oil prices peaked at $150 a barrel last July

PDVSA
Revenue: $126.4 billion
Profits: $12.1 billion
Employees: 78,000
Reserves: 99 billion barrels*

Pemex
Revenue: $119 billion
Profits (loss): ($10 billion)
Employees: 140,000
Reserves: 10.5 billion
barrels

Petrobras
Revenue: $110.3 billion
Profits: $17 billion
Employees: 76,000
Reserves: 12.6 billion
barrels

Repsol YPF
Revenue: $9 billion
Profits: $760 million
Employees: 30,000
Reserves: 580 million
barrels

* Venezuelan government estimates are 172 billion barrels.