Who Are The World’s Leading Oil-Producing Nations? Number One May Well Surprise You (Cont’d)
15. Norway
1,864,000 barrels per day. Norway is Europe’s leading oil producer and gets its black stuff from the same North Sea where the UK‘s main reserves are. Production has been declining steadily for the past few years.
14. Qatar
1,943,000 barrels per day. No longer an OPEC nation after what can only be called a spectacular falling out with their neighbours back in 2016, even though they still cut oil production in line with an OPEC agreement. The future for Qatar though looks like it will be focussed more on gas production than oil.
13. Kazakhstan
1,959,000 barrels per day. Okay, ten bonus points for anyone who can locate this country on a map. Oil production is surging ahead here due to an upsurge in fracking activity and an improvement in refining quality and quantity.
12. Nigeria
2,057,000 barrels per day. Even though they are a member of OPEC, they were exempted from production cuts due to previous disruption from Boko Haram. However, the country has agreed to limit production as of 2020.
11. Mexico
2,084,000 barrels per day. Production has halved in Mexico since its peak in 2003 and this trend seems to be destined to continue as the country’s Gulf of Mexico supplies dwindle.
10. Kuwait
2,870,000 barrels per day. Kuwait has long been one of the leaders in OPEC so it will come as no surprise that they have stuck very strictly to the oil cartels’ quotas.
9. Brazil
3,428,000 barrels per day. Over the past decade, there has been enormous investment in the oil sector in Brazil. The authorities here ignored calls for production cuts in 2018/19 and production surged ahead.
8. UAE
3,791,000 barrels per day. As a key OPEC member, we can expect the country to keep oil flowing that little bit slower for the foreseeable future.
7. Iran
4,468,000 barrels per day. Despite all of the sanctions imposed by the United States of Americaland, leading to reduced markets and a lack of investment, production only fell back by a few percent.
6. Iraq
4,616,000 barrels per day. A signatory to the OPEC production cuts, but oil output has actually increased as the civil war abates, leading to fewer production disruptions. Recently, though, the country has reconfirmed its commitment to reducing production.
5. China
4,810,000 barrels per day. As the black stuff gets scarcer in the People’s Republic, costs are rising and production totals are becoming harder to sustain. China is firmly in the realms of global oil mega-producer, but their thirst for the stuff is far in excess of what they can produce, so the country remains one of the world’s largest importers as well.
Don’t drill for it when you can dig it out.
4. Canada
5,328,000 barrels per day. Much of the surge in Canada’s oil production is from increased activity in the mining of oil sands. Production for last year was up almost 7.5% as a lot of new projects started up.
3. Russia
11,401,000 barrels per day. With a production total of more than double that of Canada, Russia got cosy with OPEC last year and agreed to cut production as well to maintain world oil prices. However, a lack of control seems to have led to a small increase instead of the cut they promised.
2. Saudi Arabia
12,419,000 barrels per day. Still firmly in number two spot, even after shouldering more than their fair share of the OPEC production cuts. But the recent drone attack knocked out about half of their production capacity, so next year they may shuffle into the number two spot.
1. United States Of Americaland
17,914,000 barrels per day. Driven by buoyant shale oil production, the US saw a surge in production of almost 13%. The country is also one of the world’s leading gas exporting countries as well. Quite remarkable when you consider just how long full-scale oil exploration has been going on over there.
The measurement of oil in a barrel is a strange thing. Officially, there are 158.987 litres in a barrel of oil. Although, in the US, officially there are only 115 litres in a barrel of oil, which is also known as half a hogshead……? My favourite name for a barrel is a firkin—this is about 41 litres or a quarter of a barrel and is what beer comes in.
