ABSTRACT
Latin America is the second largest oil-producing region in the world, following the Middle East. This chapter starts by discussing the consolidation of 20th-century petro-politics in oil-producing countries, tracing the connections between global oil economics, resource nationalizations, and neoliberal and “post-neoliberal” oil governance. It examines petro-politics in the spaces of oil logistics: oil frontiers. The chapter looks at the enduring habits of oil rule and the near future of oil politics in the region. The modern history of Latin American oil politics is forged amid countless battles of desires and aspirations among disparate actors. The political-economic vicissitudes of the oil complex leave unanswered questions about the place-specific politics of the oil complex. Oil-dependent governments in Latin America frequently frame the climate politics of oil as an untenable choice between reducing carbon emissions and reducing poverty.
