Overall, the value of petroleum gas exports rose by an average 22.9% for all exporting countries since 2016 when petroleum gas shipments were valued at $186.4 billion. From 2019 to 2020, petroleum gas exported worldwide depreciated by -16.7%.
The 5 biggest exporters of petroleum gas (Qatar, United States of America, Australia, United Arab Emirates and Norway) sold over half (56.5%) of globally shipped petroleum gas during 2020.
Almost one third of globally exported petroleum gas were provided by member countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, an intergovernmental entity comprised of 13 countries.
Applying a continental perspective, Asian countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported petroleum gas during 2020 with shipments valued at $95.6 billion or 41.7% of the global total. In second place for 2020 were European exporters at 17.7% ahead of shippers in North America at 17.5%. Oceania led by Australia and Papua New Guinea accounted for another 13.4%.
Smaller percentages came from Africa (7.1%) and Latin America (2.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2711 for petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons.
Petroleum Gas Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of petroleum gas during 2020.
- Qatar: US$34.9 billion (15.2% of exported petroleum gas)
- United States: $33.1 billion (14.5%)
- Australia: $27.3 billion (11.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: $20.5 billion (8.9%)
- Norway: $13.7 billion (6%)
- Germany: $9.6 billion (4.2%)
- Russia: $7.84 billion (3.4%)
- Algeria: $7.76 billion (3.4%)
- Malaysia: $7.4 billion (3.2%)
- Canada: $7.1 billion (3.1%)
- Turkmenistan: $6.1 billion (2.6%)
- Indonesia: $5.5 billion (2.4%)
- Oman: $4.9 billion (2.2%)
- Nigeria: $4.3 billion (1.9%)
- Myanmar (Burma): $3.4 billion (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 84.4% of global petroleum gas exported in 2020.
Two major petroleum gas exporters grew their revenues from 2019 to 2020, namely the United Arab Emirates (up 1,042.3%) and the United States of America (up 7.5%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported petroleum gas sales were led by: Norway (down -36%), Algeria (down -34.7%), Indonesia (down -34%), Malaysia (down -30.9%) and Turkmenistan (down -30.2%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for petroleum gas during 2020. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported petroleum gas and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Qatar: US$34.9 billion (net export surplus down -22.7% since 2019)
- Australia: $27.2 billion (down -24.6%)
- United States: $25.6 billion (up 22.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: $16.5 billion (up 849.6%)
- Norway: $13.7 billion (down -36.1%)
- Russia: $7.8 billion (down -17.4%)
- Algeria: $7.7 billion (down -34.6%)
- Turkmenistan: $6.1 billion (down -30.2%)
- Malaysia: $5.9 billion (down -34.9%)
- Canada: $5.3 billion (down -19.2%)
- Oman: $4.8 billion (down -21.7%)
- Nigeria: $4.2 billion (down -21.7%)
- Papua New Guinea: $3.3 billion (down -25.5%)
- Myanmar: $3.2 billion (down -23.9%)
- Indonesia: $2.9 billion (down -50.1%)
Retaking its number one position from Australia, Qatar generated the highest surplus in the international trade of petroleum gas in 2020. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Qatar’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for petroleum gas during 2020. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported petroleum gas purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$40 billion (net export deficit down -20.5% since 2019)
- Japan: -$34.1 billion (down -23.8%)
- South Korea: -$18.5 billion (down -22%)
- India: -$15 billion (down -11.6%)
- Germany: -$14 billion (down -21.7%)
- Italy: -$11 billion (down -32.7%)
- Mexico: -$6.7 billion (down -17.9%)
- France: -$6.5 billion (down -37.9%)
- Taiwan: -$6.1 billion (down -27.1%)
- Spain: -$5.4 billion (down -32.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$4.4 billion (down -23.6%)
- Thailand: -$4 billion (down -27.1%)
- Singapore: -$2.9 billion (down -37%)
- Belgium: -$2.7 billion (down -30.6%)
- Pakistan: -$2.4 billion (down -31.2%)
Mainland China displayed a competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for petroleum gas-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful product demand from Chinese businesses and consumers.
Companies
Petroleum Gas Exporting Companies
Below are global petroleum gas firms that represent established players engaged in the international petroleum gas trade. Their home country is shown within parenthesis.
- Bayerngas Norge (Norway)
- Enbridge (Canada)
- GAZPROM Germania GmbH (Germany)
- Lukoil (Russia)
- Origin Energy (Australia)
- Southern Gas Company (United States)
Searchable List of Petroleum Gas Exporting Countries in 2020
The 100 key exporters in the database below generated 99.974% of worldwide petroleum gas shipments by value.
| Rank | Exporter | Gas Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Qatar | $34,883,977,000 | -22.7% |
| 2. | United States | $33,138,180,000 | +7.5% |
| 3. | Australia | $27,338,826,000 | -24.5% |
| 4. | United Arab Emirates | $20,488,753,000 | +1,042% |
| 5. | Norway | $13,715,482,000 | -36% |
| 6. | Germany | $9,626,774,000 | -28.9% |
| 7. | Russia | $7,841,787,000 | -17.5% |
| 8. | Algeria | $7,755,548,000 | -34.7% |
| 9. | Malaysia | $7,394,503,000 | -30.9% |
| 10. | Canada | $7,052,137,000 | -23% |
| 11. | Turkmenistan | $6,064,236,000 | -30.2% |
| 12. | Indonesia | $5,452,286,000 | -34% |
| 13. | Oman | $4,938,806,000 | -20.2% |
| 14. | Nigeria | $4,298,487,000 | -20.9% |
| 15. | Myanmar | $3,365,743,000 | -20.9% |
| 16. | Papua New Guinea | $3,310,899,000 | -25.5% |
| 17. | Trinidad/Tobago | $2,469,993,000 | -36.4% |
| 18. | Kazakhstan | $2,468,511,000 | -28.6% |
| 19. | Brunei Darussalam | $2,434,895,000 | -24% |
| 20. | Belgium | $2,359,263,000 | -42.8% |
| 21. | Azerbaijan | $2,195,552,000 | -7.7% |
| 22. | China | $2,034,368,000 | +3.1% |
| 23. | Bolivia | $2,008,420,000 | -27.2% |
| 24. | Kuwait | $1,823,883,000 | -17.9% |
| 25. | France | $1,693,900,000 | -43.7% |
| 26. | United Kingdom | $1,617,573,000 | -41.5% |
| 27. | Angola | $1,482,855,000 | +2% |
| 28. | Libya | $799,357,000 | -48.7% |
| 29. | Netherlands | $684,489,000 | -37.7% |
| 30. | Equatorial Guinea | $598,919,000 | -42.1% |
| 31. | Hungary | $575,890,000 | -1.5% |
| 32. | Peru | $531,135,000 | -15.1% |
| 33. | Argentina | $509,242,000 | -32.5% |
| 34. | Egypt | $497,533,000 | -63.7% |
| 35. | Uzbekistan | $478,140,000 | -79.2% |
| 36. | Austria | $433,658,000 | -7.8% |
| 37. | South Korea | $419,811,000 | -6.2% |
| 38. | Singapore | $356,890,000 | +17.9% |
| 39. | Spain | $325,068,000 | -31% |
| 40. | Sweden | $286,941,000 | -12.2% |
| 41. | Cameroon | $265,685,000 | -41.7% |
| 42. | India | $239,911,000 | -15.7% |
| 43. | Mozambique | $230,547,000 | -15% |
| 44. | Greece | $224,022,000 | -11.7% |
| 45. | Czech Republic | $198,500,000 | -18.7% |
| 46. | Italy | $148,134,000 | -39% |
| 47. | Thailand | $141,390,000 | -22.7% |
| 48. | Belarus | $124,074,000 | -29.6% |
| 49. | Vietnam | $116,219,000 | -46.7% |
| 50. | Turkey | $107,957,000 | +4.9% |
| 51. | Honduras | $105,425,000 | 0% |
| 52. | Poland | $102,939,000 | -36% |
| 53. | Japan | $100,021,000 | -9.5% |
| 54. | Portugal | $98,518,000 | -37% |
| 55. | Latvia | $80,407,000 | -0.4% |
| 56. | Lithuania | $79,508,000 | -49.6% |
| 57. | Romania | $75,888,000 | -22.9% |
| 58. | Chile | $69,947,000 | +38.7% |
| 59. | South Africa | $68,157,000 | -0.2% |
| 60. | El Salvador | $66,778,000 | +1.1% |
| 61. | Croatia | $54,675,000 | -17.6% |
| 62. | Congo | $54,393,000 | +95.3% |
| 63. | Finland | $52,191,000 | +35.6% |
| 64. | Iraq | $49,741,000 | -37.6% |
| 65. | Guatemala | $49,122,000 | -22% |
| 66. | Slovakia | $46,486,000 | -72.3% |
| 67. | Guinea | $41,929,000 | +47.2% |
| 68. | Bulgaria | $29,340,000 | -28.5% |
| 69. | Estonia | $29,130,000 | +57% |
| 70. | Slovenia | $28,918,000 | -66.9% |
| 71. | Brazil | $25,683,000 | +4,811% |
| 72. | Ghana | $25,084,000 | +2,508,300% |
| 73. | Serbia | $22,644,000 | -15.5% |
| 74. | Sri Lanka | $19,134,000 | +125.2% |
| 75. | Taiwan | $18,848,000 | -74.4% |
| 76. | Ireland | $17,530,000 | +44.7% |
| 77. | Timor-Leste | $17,223,000 | -44.3% |
| 78. | Tanzania | $12,316,000 | -16.5% |
| 79. | Mexico | $10,347,000 | -32.7% |
| 80. | Tunisia | $9,625,000 | -23.6% |
| 81. | Dominican Republic | $9,021,000 | -3.4% |
| 82. | Liberia | $8,655,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Switzerland | $8,363,000 | -47.4% |
| 84. | Ukraine | $7,229,000 | -77.8% |
| 85. | Albania | $6,453,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Gibraltar | $5,257,000 | +338.1% |
| 87. | Dominica | $4,825,000 | 0% |
| 88. | New Zealand | $4,688,000 | -85.8% |
| 89. | Philippines | $4,656,000 | -90.3% |
| 90. | Cayman Islands | $3,755,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Mauritius | $3,708,000 | -78.5% |
| 92. | Armenia | $3,179,000 | 0% |
| 93. | North Macedonia | $3,054,000 | +5.7% |
| 94. | Senegal | $2,981,000 | -32.6% |
| 95. | Kenya | $1,593,000 | -62.2% |
| 96. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,306,000 | -22.4% |
| 97. | Hong Kong, China | $963,000 | +40.6% |
| 98. | Ivory Coast | $841,000 | -92.7% |
| 99. | Madagascar | $744,000 | +9.1% |
| 100. | US Minor Outlying Is | $720,000 | 0% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2019 data was available at time of article publication.
Fastest-growth among the 100 major exporters of petroleum gas from 2019 to 2020 belongs to: Ghana (up 2,508,300%), Brazil (up 4,811%), United Arab Emirates (up 1,042%), Gibraltar (up 338.1%), Sri Lanka (up 125.2%), Congo (up 95.3%) and Estonia (up 57%).
See also Crude Oil Exports by Country, Crude Oil Imports by Country, Refined Oil Exports by Country and Electricity Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on March 4, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on March 4, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on March 4, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on March 4, 2022
Wikipedia, Category:Natural gas companies by country. Accessed on March 4, 2022
