That dollar figure reflects a 5.1% increase since 2016 but a -34.5% decline from 2019 to 2020.
The top 5 exporters of crude oil in 2020 were Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, United States and United Arab Emirates. Combined, those crude oil shippers account for half (50.7%) of exported crude petroleum oil.
Crude oil ranked as the world’s number two export product in 2020, lagging international sales of exported electronic circuits.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for crude oil is 2709.
Crude Oil Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2020.
- Saudi Arabia: US$113.7 billion (17.2% of exported crude oil)
- Russia: $72.6 billion (11%)
- Iraq: $50.8 billion (7.7%)
- United States: $50.3 billion (7.6%)
- United Arab Emirates: $47.9 billion (7.2%)
- Canada: $47.6 billion (7.2%)
- Kuwait: $28.3 billion (4.3%)
- Nigeria: $25.2 billion (3.8%)
- Kazakhstan: $23.7 billion (3.6%)
- Norway: $22.7 billion (3.4%)
- Angola: $20.2 billion (3.1%)
- Brazil: $19.6 billion (3%)
- United Kingdom: $16.1 billion (2.4%)
- Oman: $15 billion (2.3%)
- Mexico: $14.9 billion (2.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.9% of globally exported crude oil in 2020.
Not one among the above top exporters increased their revenues from selling exported crude oil from 2019 to 2020. The most modest declines belonged to United Arab Emirates (up -14.5%), Brazil (up -18.3%), Norway (up -21.4%) and the United States (up -23%).
Those countries that posted the severest declines in their international sales of crude oil were led by: Russia (down -40.2%), Kuwait (down -39.2%), Nigeria (down -38.7%), Iraq (down -38.7%) and Angola (down -35.4%).
Please note that the published statistics for Saudi Arabia are estimates, given constraints on source data from that jurisdiction.
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for crude oil 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 crude oil exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$535 billion (net export surplus up 24.5% since 2019)
- Germany: $206.2 billion (down -17.7%)
- Russia: $105.4 billion (down -41.1%)
- Ireland: $86.1 billion (up 24.3%)
- Italy: $73.3 billion (up 16.8%)
- Netherlands: $68.8 billion (up 11.2%)
- Vietnam: $67.7 billion (up 506.2%)
- Taiwan: $59.5 billion (up 36.4%)
- Australia: $52.3 billion (down -10.4%)
- Brazil: $50.4 billion (up 8%)
- South Korea: $45.2 billion (up 15.8%)
- Saudi Arabia: $45.2 billion (down -58%)
- Singapore: $45.1 billion (up 43.7%)
- Malaysia: $44 billion (up 32.6%)
- Mexico: $34.8 billion (up 543.4%)
The People’s Republic of China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of crude oil in 2020. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms mainland China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for crude oil 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 crude oil import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: US-$976.1 billion (net export deficit up 5.7% since 2019)
- United Kingdom: -$231.6 billion (up 3.3%)
- France: -$93.3 billion (up 12.6%)
- India: -$92.5 billion (down -40.6%)
- Turkey: -$49.9 billion (up 69.1%)
- Egypt: -$33.5 billion (down -30.3%)
- Panama: -$27 billion (down -26.1%)
- Philippines: -$26.9 billion (down -36.9%)
- Pakistan: -$23.5 billion (down -10.6%)
- Hong Kong: -$21.5 billion (down -49.8%)
- Romania: -$21 billion (up 8.6%)
- Greece: -$20.5 billion (down -15.8%)
- Israel: -$20.4 billion (up 13.1%)
- Nigeria: -$19.6 billion (reversing a $6.2 billion surplus in 2019
- Spain: -$17.7 billion (down -53.9%)
The United States of America incurred the highest amount of red ink trading crude oil on international markets in 2020. That negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category. The other side of the coin is that these deficits signal opportunities for crude oil-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand, and also for entrepreneurs who develop alternative energy sources that can power industrial economies.
Companies
Crude Oil Exporting Companies
Based on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following oil and gas companies are among the top 100 largest companies in the world.
- Exxon Mobil (United States)
- PetroChina (China)
- Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands)
- BP (United Kingdom)
- Chevron (United States)
- Gazprom (Russia)
- Total (France)
- Sinopec-China Petroleum (China)
- Petrobras (Brazil)
- Rosneft (Russia)
- Eni (Italy)
- Statoil (Norway)
- ConocoPhillips (United States)
- LukOil (Russia)
The above corporations are presented in the same order as they appear in Forbes listings. Shown within parentheses is the country where each conglomerate has its headquarters.
Searchable List of Crude Oil Exporting Countries in 2020
The 104 exporters in the database below were responsible for 100% of all crude oil shipped in 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Crude Oil Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Saudi Arabia | $113,748,793,842 | -32.56% |
| 2. | Russia | $72,564,294,000 | -40.2% |
| 3. | Iraq | $50,828,799,000 | -38.7% |
| 4. | United States | $50,285,962,000 | -23% |
| 5. | United Arab Emirates | $47,861,098,000 | -14.5% |
| 6. | Canada | $47,605,672,000 | -30.1% |
| 7. | Kuwait | $28,290,707,000 | -39.2% |
| 8. | Nigeria | $25,161,351,000 | -38.7% |
| 9. | Kazakhstan | $23,703,746,000 | -29.4% |
| 10. | Norway | $22,671,605,000 | -21.4% |
| 11. | Angola | $20,226,949,000 | -35.4% |
| 12. | Brazil | $19,613,858,000 | -18.3% |
| 13. | United Kingdom | $16,080,560,000 | -32.1% |
| 14. | Oman | $15,009,995,000 | -25.6% |
| 15. | Mexico | $14,876,139,000 | -33.6% |
| 16. | Qatar | $12,805,227,000 | +3.2% |
| 17. | Azerbaijan | $9,363,571,000 | -36.8% |
| 18. | Algeria | $7,409,438,000 | -51.9% |
| 19. | Colombia | $7,119,972,000 | -45.2% |
| 20. | Ecuador | $5,658,904,000 | -26.8% |
| 21. | Libya | $5,622,549,000 | -78% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $4,705,551,000 | -33.1% |
| 23. | Australia | $4,415,758,000 | -31.7% |
| 24. | Congo | $3,860,162,000 | -12.5% |
| 25. | Venezuela | $3,008,654,000 | -78.4% |
| 26. | Ghana | $2,991,561,000 | -43% |
| 27. | Gabon | $2,744,037,000 | -43.6% |
| 28. | Equatorial Guinea | $2,193,937,000 | -36.9% |
| 29. | Vietnam | $1,769,544,000 | -7% |
| 30. | Cameroon | $1,661,981,000 | -22% |
| 31. | Indonesia | $1,396,868,000 | -19.1% |
| 32. | Chad | $1,359,657,000 | +36.5% |
| 33. | Iran | $1,335,102,000 | -90.4% |
| 34. | Brunei Darussalam | $1,274,218,000 | -55.4% |
| 35. | Egypt | $1,197,764,000 | -38.3% |
| 36. | Guyana | $1,109,177,000 | 0% |
| 37. | Argentina | $1,076,805,000 | -27.4% |
| 38. | Trinidad/Tobago | $827,299,000 | -35.1% |
| 39. | Yemen | $775,265,000 | -27% |
| 40. | South Sudan | $701,184,000 | -54.7% |
| 41. | Croatia | $635,287,000 | +777.5% |
| 42. | Belgium | $569,607,000 | -28.7% |
| 43. | Papua New Guinea | $512,180,000 | -23.1% |
| 44. | China | $485,280,000 | +34% |
| 45. | Turkmenistan | $398,307,000 | -0.6% |
| 46. | Thailand | $389,942,000 | -41% |
| 47. | Ivory Coast | $384,320,000 | -57% |
| 48. | Spain | $353,055,000 | -46.9% |
| 49. | Sudan | $317,317,000 | -63.2% |
| 50. | Denmark | $279,941,000 | -78.8% |
| 51. | New Zealand | $252,395,000 | -44% |
| 52. | Tunisia | $241,325,000 | -61% |
| 53. | Italy | $234,256,000 | +430% |
| 54. | Philippines | $221,361,000 | +30% |
| 55. | Bahrain | $162,625,000 | 0% |
| 56. | Peru | $151,660,000 | +24.4% |
| 57. | Albania | $145,144,000 | -31% |
| 58. | Pakistan | $119,122,000 | -52.1% |
| 59. | Mongolia | $112,605,000 | -69% |
| 60. | Hungary | $110,628,000 | +126.4% |
| 61. | South Africa | $79,467,000 | +9,908% |
| 62. | Cuba | $79,011,000 | 0% |
| 63. | Timor-Leste | $70,949,000 | +16.4% |
| 64. | Netherlands | $69,704,000 | -7.6% |
| 65. | Guatemala | $62,789,000 | -39.9% |
| 66. | Bahamas | $60,064,000 | +281% |
| 67. | Poland | $56,552,000 | -50.2% |
| 68. | Ireland | $47,015,000 | +522,289% |
| 69. | France | $39,962,000 | +2.7% |
| 70. | Togo | $33,844,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Ukraine | $24,351,000 | +47,647% |
| 72. | Guinea | $23,776,000 | -22% |
| 73. | Myanmar | $18,656,000 | -76% |
| 74. | Greece | $17,275,000 | -77% |
| 75. | Lithuania | $12,330,000 | -29.7% |
| 76. | Sweden | $11,906,000 | -78.8% |
| 77. | Chile | $11,871,000 | 0% |
| 78. | Romania | $10,954,000 | -17% |
| 79. | Bolivia | $10,517,000 | -51% |
| 80. | Kyrgyzstan | $10,340,000 | -36.1% |
| 81. | Niger | $10,231,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Barbados | $9,292,000 | -38.5% |
| 83. | Germany | $7,875,000 | -81.6% |
| 84. | Marshall Islands | $7,704,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Senegal | $6,965,000 | -57% |
| 86. | Estonia | $2,733,000 | +2,277% |
| 87. | Belize | $2,445,000 | -75.9% |
| 88. | Latvia | $2,012,000 | -53.5% |
| 89. | Panama | $1,869,000 | -95.8% |
| 90. | Moldova | $833,000 | +365.4% |
| 91. | Slovakia | $612,000 | -98.3% |
| 92. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $486,000 | +41.7% |
| 93. | Serbia | $132,000 | -51% |
| 94. | Namibia | $60,000 | +11% |
| 95. | Slovenia | $12,000 | -74% |
| 96. | Kenya | $10,000 | +67% |
| 97. | Czech Republic | $8,000 | -95.3% |
| 98. | Singapore | $5,000 | -66.7% |
| 99. | Finland | $4,000 | -98% |
| 100. | Botswana | $4,000 | +300% |
| 101. | South Korea | $3,000 | -50% |
| 102. | Switzerland | $2,000 | -50% |
| 103. | Mali | $1,000 | 0% |
| 104. | Luxembourg | $1,000 | 0% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means 2019 data was unavailable.
Crude Oil Exports from OPEC Countries
In 2020, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was comprised of 13 nations united by their economic interests in exporting crude petroleum oil.
The 13 OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Collectively, the 13 OPEC countries exported $312.3 billion worth of crude oil in 2020, supplied 47.2% of globally exported crude petroleum by value. That percentage shows OPEC’s decline from 50.3% of worldwide crude oil exports in 2019 and 56.4% in 2016.
Focusing exclusively on OPEC exports, the dollar value of crude oil exported from OPEC members decreased by -38.5% from 2019 to 2020. That decline is more severe than the overall average year-over-year drop of -34.5% for crude petroleum exporters worldwide.
See also US Crude Oil Imports by Supplier Countries, Iron Ore Exports by Country, Crude Oil Imports by Country and Largest Oil and Gas Export Companies
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, The World Factbook. Accessed on June 19, 2021
Forbes 2020 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 19, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 19, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 19, 2021
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Member Countries. Accessed on June 19, 2021
Wikipedia, Big Oil. Accessed on June 19, 2021
