Oil Production by Country

Oil, also commonly referred to as petroleum, is one of the top money-making commodities in the world today. Required for the production of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and many other products, oil is one of the most fundamental and vital resources in the modern world. The production of oil is a process that only stops if there is no more oil to extract. Oil extraction is a double-edged sword, as the process of extracting, refining, and burning fossil fuels such as oil is proven to be harmful to the environment. The United States is the world's largest consumer of oil, as well as the world's largest producer of oil, although several countries have larger oil reserves then the U.S. Despite its world-leading production, the U.S. also imports oil from dozens of other countries.



Roughly half of the world's countries produce oil in some capacity. Oil production is measured in barrels per day or BPD. Most oil producing countries produce thousands, even millions of barrels per day, with their total output often limited by market forces rather than by production capability. For instance, gas prices rose sharply in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but oil companies in the U.S. chose to take the increased per-gallon profits rather than increase production (which would increase supply and lower per-gallon prices).