Oil,Forest an' we

Guyana, Brazil and Argentina are at the centre of the region's growing role in global oil production.

In December 2025, The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that the three countries together will account for about 400,000 barrels of oil per day of the expected increase in global crude production in 2026.

Now in September 2026, what has become notable about these three countries’ oil and gas growth is what is happening alongside the sector: each country has mechanisms for protecting and managing its forests.

Guyana offers a distinctive (and unbiasedly), the most impressive model. Our rapid oil expansion has been entirely associated with discoveries in the offshore Stabroek Block. At the same time, Guyana has developed a forest-carbon system that gives its standing forests economic value through international carbon markets.

Brazil's oil growth is largely offshore. New deepwater production has helped push Brazilian crude output higher, while the country continues to develop forest-conservation policies and international financing initiatives. Brazil's Tropical Forest Forever Facility, launched at COP30, is designed to provide financial incentives to countries that maintain tropical forests. It offers Global South countries incentives for not cutting their forests down, a first of its kind globally.

Argentina takes a different approach. Its oil expansion is being driven heavily by the Vaca Muerta formation, an onshore project. While this has posed challenges to the nation’s forest protection projects, recent laws passed in 2025, the Kelp Forest Laws , provide some hope, as it legally protects roughly 90% of Argentina’s wild giant kelp forests by banning extraction.

Guyana, Brazil and Argentina are cementing themselves as global oil giants. As they demonstrate what oil production means for their nations, their leadership in forest stewardship sets a critical bar for global wildlife and forests. They demonstrate that oil and gas and forest protections can exist within the same national development strategy.

For Guyana, this is important. Our petroleum resources are offshore, while our forests remain a major national asset on land. That gives us as a country an opportunity to build two sources of value at the same time and highlight that the future of development does not necessarily have to be a choice between the economy and the environment.

For countries like Guyana, Brazil and Argentina, an important future projection would be around how these nations make natural-resource development and environmental stewardship work alongside each other.

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