List of countries by oil exports explained

This is a list of oil-producing countries by oil exports based on data for 2022 by CEIC. Oil in this list refers to base crude oil only, and not refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and airplane fuel.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia was the largest exporter of petroleum, followed by Russia and Iraq. Other major exporters of petroleum in that year included the United States, Canada and United Arab Emirates. In 2022, Saudi Arabia also had the largest oil export value in US dollar terms by far.

Many of these countries also import oil, and some import more oil than they export, this is known as an oil export deficit.

In contrast, when a country exports more oil than it imports, it is known as an oil export surplus. The second table in this page shows which countries have the largest oil export surplus in US dollar terms. Russia was the world leader in 2022 for this category.

Countries by rank

CountryContinentOil exports
2022 (bbl/day)[1]
Export Value
2022 (US$)[2]
Average Price per Barrel (US$)
style=text-align:left (OPEC)Asia7,363,640$224,795,271,000$83.64
style=text-align:left (OPEC+)Europe/Asia4,780,354$119,530,010,000$68.51
style=text-align:left (OPEC)Asia3,712,420$82,288,984,000$60.73
North America3,604,000$117,034,462,000$88.97
style=text-align:left North America3,350,200$120,502,814,000$98.54
style=text-align:left (OPEC) Asia2,717,117$112,723,309,000$113.66
style=text-align:left (OPEC)Asia1,878,852$54,328,256,000$79.22
style=text-align:left Europe1,558,159$57,757,614,000$101.56
(OPEC)Africa1,388,260$49,871,423,000$98.42
(OPEC+)South America1,346,417$42,688,099,000$86.86
(OPEC+)Asia/Europe1,315,167$35,367,741,000$73.68
Africa1,084,911$37,400,459,000$94.45
(OPEC+)North America1,011,790$31,779,788,000$86.05
(OPEC+)Asia921,803$33,227,075,000$98.76
(OPEC)Africa919,828$31,890,426,000$94.99
(OPEC)Asia900,632$565,409,000$1.72
Europe540,191$21,273,239,000$107.89
South America487,000$16,185,817,000$91.06
(OPEC)Africa476,896$17,466,958,000$100.35
Asia475,353$23,395,784,000$134.84
(OPEC+)Asia/Europe441,333$19,483,624,000$120.95
style=text-align:left (OPEC)South America438,173$573,231,000$3.58
style=text-align:left South America313,333$10,834,642,000$94.74
style=text-align:left Oceania243,573$10,128,798,000$113.93
(OPEC)Africa242,839$6,691,573,000$75.49
(OPEC+)Asia203,333$7,943,406,000$107.03
(OPEC)Africa184,911$5,426,730,000$80.40
(OPEC+)Asia151,583$402,622,000$7.28
(OPEC+)Africa116,405$712,831,000$16.78
(OPEC)Africa80,721$3,495,618,000$118.64
Africa71,083$2,963,094,000$114.21
style=text-align:left Asia55,083$2,032,103,000$101.07
South America54,083$2,303,818,000$116.71
Asia41,489$1,438,104,000$94.97
Asia39,583$1,572,374,000$108.83
(OPEC+)Asia38,917$1,975,984,000$139.11
AfricaN/A$0N/A

Oil export revenues

Academic contributors have written about differences in petroleum revenue management in various countries. Many scholars see the natural resource wealth in some countries as a blessing, while others have referred to it as a natural resource curse.[3] A vast body of resource curse literature has studied the role of governance regimes, legal frameworks and political risk in building an economy based on natural resource exploitation.[4] [5] [6] However, whether it is seen as a blessing or a curse, the recent political decisions regarding the future of petroleum production in many countries were given an extractivist direction, thus also granting a status quo to the exploitation of natural resources.[7] The PRIX index forecasts the effect of political developments on exports from major petroleum-producing countries.[8]

Largest Oil Export Surplus

A country's oil export surplus can be calculated by subtracting the value of its oil imports from the value of its oil exports. Countries with oil export surpluses tend to be more energy independent than those with oil export deficits (importing more oil than they export).

CountryContinentOil Export Surplus
2022 (US$ billions)
Europe/Asia+ $346.7
(OPEC)Asia+ $265.1
Europe+ $203.1
(OPEC) Asia+ $167.8
North America+ $135.0
Oceania+ $113.2
Asia+ $94.9
(OPEC)Asia+ $87.3
(OPEC)Asia+ $69.6
(OPEC)Africa+ $57.7
North America+ $55.9
Asia+ $52.8
Africa+ $43.4
Asia/Europe+ $42.8
Asia/Europe+ $34.0

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Crude Oil: Exports . 15 April 2024 . CEIC . ISI Emerging Markets Group.
  2. Web site: Crude Oil Exports by Country . 15 April 2024 . World's Top Exports . EZOIC.
  3. News: European Economic Review . The curse of natural resources . Sachs J. D. . Warner A.M. . 2001 . 45 . 4 . 2016-07-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170517090027/http://mais611.wiki.usfca.edu/file/view/Sachs+and+Warner+Curse+of+Natural+Resources.pdf . 2017-05-17 . dead .
  4. News: European economic review . Escaping the resource curse. . Humphreys, M., Sachs, J. and Stiglitz, J. E. . 2007 . Cambridge University Press.
  5. News: Environmental and natural resource economics. . Tietenberg, T. H. . Thomas H. Tietenberg. Lewis, L. . 2000.
  6. News: European Economic Review . The natural resource curse: How wealth can make you poor . Ross, M. L. . 2003. 978-0-8213-5503-9 .
  7. News: European Economic Review . 10.1016/j.exis.2015.12.001. free . Beyond extractivism and alternative cosmologies: Arctic communities and extractive industries in uncertain times . Wilson, E. . Stammler, F. . 2015 . 1 . 3. 1–8 .
  8. News: Alberta Oil Magazine . Nuclear Negotiations, Restructuring at Chevron and a New Political Risk Index for Oil Markets . 2015-06-29 . 2015-09-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151220225322/http://www.albertaoilmagazine.com/2015/06/36733/ . 2015-12-20 . dead .