World Oil Use and Exports
In order to understand the challenge of reducing oil usage to mitigate climate change, we examine oil use by country or region. We then look at world oil trade in terms of oil exporters.
The US federal government is currently under the spell of oil oligarchs, and other countries depend on oil, gas or coal exports for their wealth, and imports for their energy. These can also block climate change mitigation.
Total worldwide oil consumption is 99.6 million barrels per day (bbl/day) in 2018. Since this is almost 100, the numbers below are also percentages. The data below starts with that for 2017 in millions of barrels per day.
- US. 19.9. EU. 15.0
- China. 13.2. The US, EU, and China make up 48% of the total.
- India 4.69
- Japan. 3.99
- Saudi Arabia. 3.92
- Russia. 3.22
- Brazil. 3.12
- South Korea 2.80
- Germany 2.45
- Canada. 2.43. The top 10 are 60% of total oil usage.
- Iran. 1.95. This and below are from 2015.
- Mexico. 1.93
- France. 1.61
- Indonesia 1.63
- UK. 1.56. The top 15 are 68% or 2/3 of the total.
California uses 1.84 million barrels per day, so we would be number 13.
The list of oil exporters for the year of 2017 in terms of the total cost in US billions of dollars and the percentage is given below. OPEC countries are starred.
- Saudi Arabia* 133.6. 15.9%
- Russia. 93.3. 11.1
- Iraq*. 61.5. 7.3
- Canada. 54. 6.4
- United Arab Emirates*. 49.3. 5.9
- Iran*. 40.1. 4.8
- Kuwait*. 38.2. 4.5
- Nigeria*. 33. 3.9
- Angola*. 30.5. 3.6
- Kazakhstan. 26.6. 3.2
- Norway. 25.9. 3.1
- Venezuela*. 23.1. 2.7
- United States. 21.8. 2.6
- Mexico. 19.9. 2.4
- United Kingdom 19. 2.3
The top 15 are 80% of oil exports. The top 10 are 67% or 2/3. OPEC countries shown total 49%.
California spent $62.5 billion on oil in 2016. With a population of 39 million, this is $1,600 per capita in California. Oil in 2016 was at a very low price of $41 per barrel. The cost today is about $80 per barrel.
