Transition slips down the Latin American energy priority list

State-controlled energy companies are well placed to lead the decarbonisation vanguard but must weigh other key government priorities

Net zero has become the latest buzzword to sweep the energy sector, with European majors pledging ambitious targets for 2050 and promising to overhaul their portfolios. This is in sharp contrast to their US counterparts, which continue to prioritise the shale patch boom in Texas and New Mexico with the briefest of nods to wind power or algal biofuels. South of the border, Latin American NOCs have largely followed their US peers and made little progress towards decarbonisation. State-controlled firms have made few commitments beyond curtailing operational emissions and investing in research, while companies have largely avoided the social and investor backlash that has raised the profile of c