Oil - World Oil Production And Consumption

Total world petroleum production has increased somewhat steadily, reaching 69.5 million barrels per day in 2003, after a downturn in the early 1980s. (See Table 2.3.) The major producers in 2003 were, from most to least, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, Iran, China, Mexico, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Canada, and Nigeria and Kuwait. (See Figure 2.9.) Together, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States accounted for 33% of the world's crude oil production.

Like total world petroleum production, total world petroleum consumption has increased somewhat steadily, reaching 78.2 million barrels per day in 2002. (See Table 2.4.) In 2002 the leading petroleum consumers were, from most to least, the United States, Japan, China, and Russia. Figure 2.10 shows the major petroleum consumers of selected Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries—a group of thirty nations

FIGURE 2.5

committed to democratic government and a market economy. They develop and refine economic and social policies. The major OECD consumers in 2002 were, in order, the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Canada, France, Mexico, Italy, United Kingdom, and Spain. The United States was by far the leading consumer in either category, using 19.8 million barrels per day, followed by Japan (5.3 million barrels a day), China (5.2 million barrels a day), Germany (2.7 million barrels a day), and Russia (2.6 million barrels a day). (See Table 2.4.)