Until this year, resource nationalism—when a government asserts its control over a country’s natural resources—seemed to be on the wane in Latin America. But its potential return could set back Latin America’s two largest economies.
As global oil prices collapsed over the last two years, regional governments have started to lose their leverage in the energy industry. To attract international investors, they must offer increasingly favorable terms, which means ceding more of their own control.
Brazil’s oil and gas and electricity sectors are an important destination for Chinese direct investment.
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A boom in the production of shale gas and other unconventionals has prompted a rethinking of energy policy in countries throughout the hemisphere and the world.
