Largest Reserves, Producers, Importers and Exporters of Oil

November 6, 2015 November 9, 2023

Petroleum and Natural Gas are mixtures of liquid, gaseous, and solid hydrocarbons along with some other compounds. Different types of molecules give them liquid/ gaseous states and different colour , viscosity and odour. Similar to coal, oil and gas are fossil fuels formed in the sedimentary rocks from buried dead flora / fauna including algae and phyto/zooplankton. Most petroleum of the world is extracted via drilling, while there are some natural oil springs / petroleum seeps as well in world.

The petroleum products have been used since ages however, world’s first petroleum refinery was established in mid of 19th century in Poland by a chemist named Ignacy Łukasiewicz.

Current Global Production Figures

Largest Proven Oil Reserves

With total 297 billion barrels, world’s largest proven oil reserves are located in Venezuela. Next countries with largest proven oil reserves are Saudi Arabia, Canada and Iran.

Largest Producer Countries

Traditionally, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been world’s largest oil producers. In 2012, Russia was world’s largest oil producer with 544MT oil production followed by Saudi Arabia (520Mt). Since 2014, United States has emerged as world’s largest oil producing country, followed by Saudi Arabia, Russia and China. In terms of production, India stands at 20th number among the world’s countries.

Largest Consumer Countries

United States is largest Consumer of Oil in the world, followed by China, Japan and India. Russia is fifth largest consumer of Oil. Japan is the largest non-producing Consumer of Oil.