Is Saudi Arabia the Largest Oil Producer in the World?

Oil continues to remain the most in-demand commodity in the world, with demand and prices both climbing steadily since 2016. While demand for oil gets affected by access to other sources of energy such as hydropower, electricity, nuclear, solar and wind, its supply is carefully monitored through the pace of oil extraction.

It began to play an increasingly important role in the world economy in the middle of the 20th-century. Realizing its importance, in 1960, five oil-producing countries – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela joined hands to establish an intergovernmental organization-Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – with the stated objective of stabilizing international oil production and prices. Many other countries joined the bloc later.

As per OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin 2019, 79.4% of the world’s proven oil reserves are located in OPEC Member Countries, with the bulk of OPEC oil reserves in the Middle East, amounting to 64.5% of the OPEC total.

In 2008, OPEC Member Saudi Arabia was the largest producer of petroleum in the world, followed by Russia and the United States (US), with the production in the US being almost 50% less than the production in Saudi Arabia.
Though production continued to increase in all the three countries, Saudi Arabia maintained its lead until 2016. In 2017, there was an only marginal difference in the figures of petroleum production for these three countries. However, in 2018, riding on the back of a 17% growth in production, the US surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of petroleum. Moreover, the US continues to be one of the most significant consumers of oil in the world.

While non-OPEC countries such as the US and Russia are free to decide their oil production levels, OPEC countries such as Saudi Arabia must abide by the OPEC production targets. So, it is pertinent to note that in December 2018, an agreement was reached by the OPEC Member Countries to extend production cuts. In September 2019, two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were the target of drone attacks, which significantly curtailed its daily oil output. These factors, as well as an escalation of tensions in the Middle East, are likely to influence oil supply and prices around the globe in the years to come.

World Oil Production (OPEC) 2018

Rank	Country	Petroleum Production (1000 bbl/day)
1	Saudi Arabia	12419
2	Iran	4616
3	Iraq	4468
I	United Arab Emirates	3791
5	Kuwait	2870
6	Nigeria	2057
7	Qatar*	1943
8	Angola	1655
9	Algeria	1577
10	Venezuela	1527
11	Libya	1074
12	Ecuador	517
13	Congo (Brazzaville)	347
14	Gabon	195
15	Equatorial Guinea	184

World Oil Production (Non-OPEC) 2018

Rank	Country	Petroleum Production (1000 bbl/day)
1	United States	17914
2	Russia	11401
3	Canada	5328
I	China	4810
5	Brazil	3428
6	Mexico	2084
7	Kazakhstan	1959
8	Norway	1864
9	United Kingdom	1163
10	India	1018
11	Oman	988
12	Indonesia	914
13	Colombia	890
14	Azerbaijan	808
15	Malaysia	750
16	Argentina	679
17	Egypt	668
18	Thailand	517
19	Australia	370
20	Turkmenistan	280
21	Vietnam	254
22	Germany	205
23	Ghana	174
24	Italy	157
25	Peru	141
26	Chad	132
27	Japan	127
28	South Sudan	126
29	Denmark	121
30	France	121
31	South Korea	115
32	Brunei	112
33	South Africa	110
34	Sudan	98
35	Pakistan	92
36	Romania	88
37	Trinidad & Tobago	88
38	Bolivia	78
39	Turkey	73
40	Netherlands	70
41	Cameroon	69
42	Spain	68
43	Yemen	61
44	Ukraine	56
45	Uzbekistan	55
46	Poland	55
47	Bahrain	55
48	Cote dIvoire (IvoryCoast)	53
49	Cuba	50
50	Papua New Guinea	45
51	Tunisia	41
52	Singapore	38
53	Hungary	37
54	New Zealand	34
55	East Timor	33
56	Belarus	31
57	Taiwan	30
58	Belgium	29
59	Austria	28
60	Syria	28
61	Philippines	27
62	Serbia	20
63	Mongolia	20
64	Czech Republic	20
65	Croatia	19
66	Finland	18
67	Congo (Kinshasa)	17
68	Chile	16
69	Suriname	16
70	Estonia	16
71	Albania	16
72	Greece	15
73	Slovakia	15
74	Sweden	14
75	Guatemala	14
76	Portugal	13
77	Myanmar	12
78	Niger	9.5
79	Lithuania	9.3
80	Israel	6.4
81	Bulgaria	5.3
82	Paraguay	4.2
83	Mauritania	4
84	Bangladesh	3.1
85	Switzerland	2.3
86	Uruguay	2.2
87	Belize	2
88	Costa Rica	1.6
89	Latvia	1.4
90	Barbados	1
91	Kyrgyzstan	1
92	Netherlands Antilles	0.9
93	Kenya	0.8
94	Zimbabwe	0.8
95	Swaziland	0.8
96	Jamaica	0.7
97	Mauritius	0.5
98	Panama	0.4
99	Ireland	0.4
100	Jordan	0.4
101	Georgia	0.4
102	Ethiopia	0.4
103	Mozambique	0.4
104	Slovenia	0.3
105	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.2
106	Macedonia	0.2
107	Malawi	0.2
108	Tajikistan	0.2
109	Zambia	0.2
110	Morocco	0.2
111	North Korea	0.1
112	Hong Kong	0.1

Source: US Energy Information Administration

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