Overall, the value of exported refined petroleum oils decreased by an average -37.5% for all exporting countries since 2016 when refined oil shipments were valued at $510.5 billion. From 2019 to 2020, the value of global refined oil exports fell by -37.5%.
The 5 biggest exporters of processed petroleum oils in 2020 were the United States, Russia, Netherlands, Singapore and India. Collectively, that cohort of mineral fuel exporters account for 44.7% of the value for all globally exported refined petroleum oils.
Among continents, shippers in Asia delivered the highest dollar worth of refined oil exports during 2020 with shipments valued at $172.4 billion or 39.6% of the global total. In second place were European exporters at 38.8% while 16% of worldwide refined oil shipments originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from Africa (2.7%), Latin America (2.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.4%) led by Australia and Papua New Guinea.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2710 for refined petroleum oils. That category excludes crude oil.
Refined Oil Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of refined oil during 2020.
- United States: US$60.7 billion (13.9% of refined oil exports)
- Russia: $45.4 billion (10.4%)
- Netherlands: $34.7 billion (8%)
- Singapore: $27.4 billion (6.3%)
- India: $26.2 billion (6%)
- China: $25.5 billion (5.9%)
- South Korea: $23.2 billion (5.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: $19.6 billion (4.5%)
- Malaysia: $12.8 billion (2.9%)
- Belgium: $10.5 billion (2.4%)
- Spain: $9.6 billion (2.2%)
- Germany: $9.5 billion (2.2%)
- Italy: $8.3 billion (1.9%)
- United Kingdom: $7.4 billion (1.7%)
- Canada: $7.2 billion (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 75.3% of globally exported refined oils in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the mildest decreases compared to belong to: Malaysia (down -14.3%), Germany (down -24.6%), United States (down -30.6%) and Russia (down -32.2%).
Those countries that posted the severest declines in their exported refined oil sales year over year were: United Arab Emirates (down -45.3%), Italy (down -41.7%), South Korea (down -41%), Canada (down -40.8%) and Singapore (down -40.3%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for refined petroleum oils 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 refined oil exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Russia: US$44.3 billion (net export surplus down -32.8% since 2019)
- United States: $24.4 billion (down -4.6%)
- India: $20.3 billion (down -43.4%)
- Netherlands: $17.6 billion (down -28.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: $14.3 billion (down -39.2%)
- China: $13.7 billion (down -35.7%)
- South Korea: $10.4 billion (down -52.7%)
- Spain: $4.9 billion (down -33.8%)
- Kuwait: $4.8 billion (down -50.8%)
- Greece: $4.2 billion (down -40.9%)
- Algeria: $3.6 billion (down -29.1%)
- Iraq: $3.4 billion (up 321%)
- Italy: $3.2 billion (down -45.)
- Belgium: $2.1 billion (down -53.9%)
- Finland: $1.9 billion (down -38.5%)
The Russian Federation generated the highest surplus in the international trade of refined oil. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Russia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for refined petroleum oils 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 refined oil import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Mexico: -US$15.3 billion (net export deficit down -44.9% since 2019)
- France: -$11.6 billion (down -25.2%)
- Australia: -$9.8 billion (down -37.7%)
- Nigeria: -$7.6 billion (up 9.8%)
- Indonesia: -$7.3 billion (down -40.9%)
- Germany: -$5.5 billion (down -53.5%)
- Japan: -$5.5 billion (up 149.3%)
- Hong Kong: -$5.3 billion (down -50.4%)
- Panama: -$5 billion (down -4.6%)
- Gibraltar: -$4.7 billion (down -19.3%)
- Philippines: -$4.3 billion (down -40.3%)
- Pakistan: -$4.1 billion (down -21.6%)
- Singapore: -$3.8 billion (up 16787.6%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$3.8 billion (up 5.9%)
- Ukraine: -$3.3 billion (down -36.1%)
Mexico incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of processed petroleum oils. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Mexico ‘s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for refined oil-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand among consumers and businesses.
Companies
Refined Oil Exporting Companies
According to Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following oil and gas companies are among the top 40 largest companies in the world.
- Exxon Mobile (United States)
- PetroChina (China)
- Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands)
- BP (United Kingdom)
- Chevron (United States)
- Gazprom (Russia)
- Total (France)
- Sinopec-China Petroleum (China)
- Petrobras (Brazil)
- Rosneft (Russia)
The above corporations are presented in the same order as they appear in the Forbes listing.
Searchable List of Refined Oil Exporting Countries in 2020
The 100 key oil shippers in the automated database below were responsible for 99.8% of the overall value of exported refined petroleum oils during 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Refined Oil Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $60,709,450,000 | -30.6% |
| 2. | Russia | $45,360,052,000 | -32.2% |
| 3. | Netherlands | $34,747,220,000 | -35.5% |
| 4. | Singapore | $27,408,086,000 | -40.3% |
| 5. | India | $26,174,665,000 | -38.5% |
| 6. | China | $25,473,643,000 | -33.6% |
| 7. | South Korea | $23,169,236,000 | -41% |
| 8. | United Arab Emirates | $19,646,569,000 | -45.3% |
| 9. | Malaysia | $12,789,008,000 | -14.3% |
| 10. | Belgium | $10,466,814,000 | -32.9% |
| 11. | Spain | $9,648,095,000 | -37.9% |
| 12. | Germany | $9,517,100,000 | -24.6% |
| 13. | Italy | $8,295,305,000 | -41.7% |
| 14. | United Kingdom | $7,351,481,000 | -38% |
| 15. | Canada | $7,193,040,000 | -40.8% |
| 16. | Greece | $6,937,927,000 | -37.2% |
| 17. | Taiwan | $5,793,886,000 | -52.7% |
| 18. | Japan | $5,557,286,000 | -49.3% |
| 19. | Sweden | $5,521,589,000 | -30.2% |
| 20. | Brazil | $5,058,434,000 | -12.6% |
| 21. | Kuwait | $4,857,609,000 | -51.1% |
| 22. | France | $4,723,202,000 | -43.7% |
| 23. | Thailand | $4,630,046,000 | -29.2% |
| 24. | Finland | $3,941,668,000 | -32.8% |
| 25. | Algeria | $3,892,422,000 | -43.3% |
| 26. | Norway | $3,737,439,000 | -39.8% |
| 27. | Turkey | $3,718,144,000 | -48% |
| 28. | Iraq | $3,657,936,000 | -21.7% |
| 29. | Egypt | $2,900,797,000 | -36.8% |
| 30. | Oman | $2,394,684,000 | -10.1% |
| 31. | Portugal | $2,372,274,000 | -32.3% |
| 32. | Lithuania | $1,874,502,000 | -50.4% |
| 33. | South Africa | $1,825,995,000 | -39.6% |
| 34. | Belarus | $1,812,976,000 | -65.1% |
| 35. | Bahrain | $1,752,582,000 | -70.6% |
| 36. | Mexico | $1,559,418,000 | -17.8% |
| 37. | Brunei Darussalam | $1,559,065,000 | +194.3% |
| 38. | Australia | $1,554,511,000 | -13.4% |
| 39. | Colombia | $1,549,861,000 | -46.8% |
| 40. | Denmark | $1,380,543,000 | -46.6% |
| 41. | Romania | $1,318,209,000 | -46.6% |
| 42. | Slovakia | $1,254,359,000 | -22.3% |
| 43. | Austria | $1,121,780,000 | -35.1% |
| 44. | Bulgaria | $1,106,454,000 | -55.4% |
| 45. | Hungary | $908,651,000 | -30.7% |
| 46. | Poland | $841,897,000 | -54.2% |
| 47. | Czech Republic | $766,918,000 | -36.1% |
| 48. | Peru | $757,338,000 | -67.3% |
| 49. | Estonia | $748,577,000 | -28.6% |
| 50. | Slovenia | $728,195,000 | -49% |
| 51. | Indonesia | $706,792,000 | -11.5% |
| 52. | Kazakhstan | $645,475,000 | -37.1% |
| 53. | Vietnam | $614,528,000 | -46% |
| 54. | Senegal | $613,247,000 | -23.5% |
| 55. | Croatia | $609,326,000 | -47% |
| 56. | Ecuador | $563,540,000 | -40.4% |
| 57. | Ireland | $521,744,000 | -33.1% |
| 58. | Argentina | $499,281,000 | -26.3% |
| 59. | Hong Kong | $471,019,000 | -24.3% |
| 60. | Cyprus | $409,474,000 | -28.4% |
| 61. | Kenya | $402,022,000 | -8.8% |
| 62. | Bahamas | $387,289,000 | +157.5% |
| 63. | Switzerland | $370,080,000 | -47.1% |
| 64. | Papua New Guinea | $344,050,000 | -9.6% |
| 65. | Azerbaijan | $295,115,000 | -36.2% |
| 66. | Angola | $284,889,000 | +17.8% |
| 67. | Sri Lanka | $279,073,000 | -14.9% |
| 68. | Tunisia | $276,186,000 | +39.8% |
| 69. | Togo | $274,246,000 | +447.1% |
| 70. | Trinidad/Tobago | $236,755,000 | -51.8% |
| 71. | Turkmenistan | $232,651,000 | -73.3% |
| 72. | Ivory Coast | $222,823,000 | -79.3% |
| 73. | Serbia | $208,940,000 | -32.5% |
| 74. | Panama | $204,322,000 | -77.3% |
| 75. | Venezuela | $201,801,000 | -75.9% |
| 76. | Chile | $192,586,000 | -5.9% |
| 77. | Philippines | $188,952,000 | -16.1% |
| 78. | Niger | $183,097,000 | -16.4% |
| 79. | Congo | $176,066,000 | -27.6% |
| 80. | Morocco | $131,268,000 | -65.9% |
| 81. | Latvia | $122,103,000 | -31.2% |
| 82. | Libya | $104,875,000 | -88.6% |
| 83. | Ukraine | $103,249,000 | -61.3% |
| 84. | Iran | $88,535,000 | -83.1% |
| 85. | Malta | $86,349,000 | -76% |
| 86. | Ghana | $86,054,000 | +34% |
| 87. | Nigeria | $82,933,000 | -25.7% |
| 88. | Barbados | $80,907,000 | -25.4% |
| 89. | El Salvador | $80,009,000 | -33.2% |
| 90. | Jordan | $78,539,000 | -52.4% |
| 91. | Uganda | $77,115,000 | -41.6% |
| 92. | Pakistan | $69,792,000 | -43.5% |
| 93. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $68,850,000 | -53.6% |
| 94. | Gabon | $66,177,000 | +2.5% |
| 95. | Namibia | $64,271,000 | -27.1% |
| 96. | Gibraltar | $56,367,000 | +1893.2% |
| 97. | Cuba | $50,573,000 | -6.4% |
| 98. | Kyrgyzstan | $44,391,000 | -41.3% |
| 99. | Suriname | $38,741,000 | +5.6% |
| 100. | Tanzania | $38,682,000 | -78% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
See also Russia’s Top Trading Partners, Crude Oil Exports by Country and Largest Oil and Gas Export Companies
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 10, 2021
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 10, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 10, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 10, 2021
Wikipedia, Big Oil. Accessed on June 1, 2020
