That dollar figure reflects a flatlining 1% increase from $972.7 billion worth of crude oil exports during 2017.
Year over year, the value of the world’s exports of crude oil accelerated by 36.7% from $718.8 billion in 2020.
Crude oil ranks as the world’s second-most valuable exported product for 2021, lagging only international sales of exported electronic integrated circuits and related parts. Crude petroleum oils represent 4.6% of the overall total for all exported commodities during 2021, up from 3.8% in 2020.
The top 5 exporters of crude oil in 2021 were Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Iraq, United States of America, and the United Arab Emirates. Combined, those 5 powerful crude oil shippers approached half (46.7%) of global exports for crude petroleum oil.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for crude oil is 2709.
Crude Oil Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021.
- Saudi Arabia: US$161.7 billion (16.5% of exported crude oil)
- Russia: $82 billion (8.3%)
- Canada: $74 billion (7.5%)
- Iraq: $72.1 billion (7.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: $69.4 billion (7.1%)
- United States: $41 billion (4.2%)
- Norway: $40.2 billion (4.1%)
- Kuwait: $36.3 billion (3.7%)
- Nigeria: $30.6 billion (3.1%)
- Brazil: $27.9 billion (2.8%)
- Libya: $27.8 billion (2.8%)
- Angola: $25.4 billion (2.6%)
- Oman: $24 billion (2.4%)
- Mexico: $23.6 billion (2.4%)
- Kazakhstan: $17.6 billion (1.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 76.7% of globally exported crude oil in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of crude oil since 2020 were: Libya (up 345.2%), Norway (up 77.2%), Mexico (up 60.9%), Oman (up 59.6%), Canada (up 55.4%), Saudi Arabia (up 42.3%), Brazil (up 42%) and Iraq (up 41.2%).
Three top countries posted declines in their international sales of crude oil namely the United Arab Emirates (down -34%), Kazakhstan (down -25.8%) and the United States of America (down -17.2%).
Please note that the published statistics for Saudi Arabia include estimates and independent calculations, due to constraints on source data from that jurisdiction.
Biggest Surpluses Trading Crude Oil
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for crude oil during 2021. 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.
- Saudi Arabia: US$198.9 billion (net export surplus up 55.9% since 2020)
- Russia: $111 billion (up 52.9%)
- Iraq: $74 billion (up 44.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: $71.2 billion (down -14.9%)
- Canada: $70.2 billion (up 79.8%)
- Kuwait: $40.2 billion (up 40.3%)
- Norway: $39.8 billion (up 83.6%)
- Nigeria: $36.3 billion (up 44.1%)
- Libya: $27.9 billion (up 345.9%)
- Angola: $27.8 billion (up 52%)
- Brazil: $26.6 billion (up 56.5%)
- Oman: $25.4 billion (up 68.8%)
- Mexico: $24 billion (up 63.3%)
- Kazakhstan: $23.6 billion (down -0.3%)
- Qatar: $17.6 billion (up 143.1%)
The world’s biggest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, generated the highest surplus in the international trade of crude petroleum oils in 2021. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Saudi’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Worst Deficits Trading Crude Oil
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for crude oil during 2021. 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.
- China: -US$228.5 billion (net export deficit up 30% since 2020)
- India: -$106.4 billion (up 64.8%)
- United States of America: -$69 billion (up 113.6%)
- South Korea: -$67 billion (up 50.7%)
- Japan: -$63.1 billion (up 45.1%)
- Germany: -$39.7 billion (up 44.8%)
- Netherlands: -$36.1 billion (up 64.8%)
- Italy: -$29.5 billion (up 84.8%)
- Spain: -$29 billion (up 62.2%)
- Thailand: -$25.1 billion (up 45.4%)
- Singapore: -$22.5 billion (up 56.5%)
- Taiwan: -$19.9 billion (up 57.5%)
- France: -$19.2 billion (up 65.9%)
- Belgium: -$18.3 billion (up 97.7%)
- Greece: -$11.7 billion (up 67.9%)
Two robust Asian economies, mainland China and India, incurred the highest amount of red ink trading crude oil on international markets in 2021. That negative cashflow highlights both countries’ strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category. The other side of the coin is that these deficits signal opportunities for crude oil-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand, and also for entrepreneurs who develop alternative energy sources that can power industrial economies.
Crude Oil Exporting Companies
Based on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following oil and gas companies are among the top 100 largest companies in the world.
- BP (United Kingdom)
- Chevron (United States)
- ConocoPhillips (United States)
- Eni (Italy)
- Exxon Mobil (United States)
- Gazprom (Russia)
- LukOil (Russia)
- Petrobras (Brazil)
- PetroChina (China)
- Rosneft (Russia)
- Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands)
- Sinopec-China Petroleum (China)
- Statoil (Norway)
- Total (France)
The above corporations are presented in the same order as they appear in Forbes listings. Shown within parentheses is the country where each conglomerate has its headquarters.
Searchable List of Crude Oil Exporting Countries in 2021
The 100 exporters in the database below were responsible for 100% of all crude oil shipped in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Crude Oil Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Saudi Arabia | $161,739,361,027 | +42.3% |
| 2. | Russia | $81,978,033,000 | +13% |
| 3. | Canada | $73,972,699,000 | +55.4% |
| 4. | Iraq | $72,117,605,000 | +41.2% |
| 5. | United Arab Emirates | $69,356,113,000 | -34% |
| 6. | United States | $40,997,059,000 | -17.2% |
| 7. | Norway | $40,169,713,000 | +77.2% |
| 8. | Kuwait | $36,256,294,000 | +26.6% |
| 9. | Nigeria | $30,608,982,000 | +21.7% |
| 10. | Brazil | $27,853,450,000 | +42% |
| 11. | Libya | $27,810,649,000 | +345.2% |
| 12. | Angola | $25,366,334,000 | +38.6% |
| 13. | Oman | $23,983,901,000 | +59.6% |
| 14. | Mexico | $23,625,451,000 | +60.9% |
| 15. | Kazakhstan | $17,599,998,000 | -25.8% |
| 16. | Qatar | $16,997,301,000 | +134.3% |
| 17. | United Kingdom | $13,218,936,000 | -17.9% |
| 18. | Azerbaijan | $11,895,438,000 | +27% |
| 19. | Algeria | $10,298,908,000 | +37.2% |
| 20. | Colombia | $7,495,954,000 | +5.3% |
| 21. | Australia | $7,278,164,000 | +65% |
| 22. | Ecuador | $5,236,463,000 | +11.8% |
| 23. | Malaysia | $4,015,153,000 | -14.7% |
| 24. | Gabon | $3,801,854,000 | +38.5% |
| 25. | Ghana | $3,056,909,000 | +2.2% |
| 26. | Equatorial Guinea | $2,930,691,000 | +33.6% |
| 27. | Guyana | $2,916,218,000 | +163.7% |
| 28. | Egypt | $2,795,919,000 | +133.4% |
| 29. | Indonesia | $2,155,681,000 | +54% |
| 30. | Brunei Darussalam | $2,056,022,000 | +61.4% |
| 31. | Chad | $1,955,236,000 | +43.8% |
| 32. | Cameroon | $1,895,860,000 | +11.1% |
| 33. | Vietnam | $1,841,724,000 | +17.4% |
| 34. | Argentina | $1,333,222,000 | +133.8% |
| 35. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,141,305,000 | +56.6% |
| 36. | Yemen | $1,135,885,000 | +46.4% |
| 37. | South Africa | $1,072,026,000 | +1249% |
| 38. | Congo | $901,537,000 | -74.3% |
| 39. | Croatia | $749,583,000 | +19% |
| 40. | China | $737,040,000 | +51.9% |
| 41. | Tunisia | $687,567,000 | +28.4% |
| 42. | Papua New Guinea | $671,028,000 | +31% |
| 43. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $612,343,000 | 0% |
| 44. | Spain | $587,904,000 | +67% |
| 45. | Belgium | $502,474,000 | -11.8% |
| 46. | Turkmenistan | $463,686,000 | +17% |
| 47. | Italy | $461,916,000 | +87% |
| 48. | Sudan | $447,221,000 | +41% |
| 49. | Bahrain | $420,281,000 | 0% |
| 50. | Thailand | $403,331,000 | +3.4% |
| 51. | Ivory Coast | $385,752,000 | -13.5% |
| 52. | South Sudan | $363,459,000 | -48% |
| 53. | Denmark | $316,269,000 | +13% |
| 54. | New Zealand | $292,082,000 | +16% |
| 55. | Germany | $289,657,000 | +3524.8% |
| 56. | Peru | $269,235,000 | +77.5% |
| 57. | Mongolia | $227,959,000 | +51.1% |
| 58. | Sweden | $225,945,000 | +1766.1% |
| 59. | Albania | $216,318,000 | 0% |
| 60. | Philippines | $197,418,000 | -10.8% |
| 61. | Netherlands | $179,108,000 | +163.8% |
| 62. | Timor-Leste | $171,936,000 | +142% |
| 63. | Pakistan | $170,389,000 | +43% |
| 64. | Hungary | $170,175,000 | +54% |
| 65. | Singapore | $94,206,000 | +1884020% |
| 66. | Poland | $72,253,000 | +27.8% |
| 67. | Guatemala | $50,615,000 | +3.1% |
| 68. | Afghanistan | $43,303,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Cuba | $34,203,000 | -56.7% |
| 70. | Ireland | $31,494,000 | +25.3% |
| 71. | Curaçao | $27,133,000 | 00% |
| 72. | Ukraine | $24,030,000 | -01% |
| 73. | Greece | $20,284,000 | +17.4% |
| 74. | Bolivia | $19,878,000 | +89% |
| 75. | Senegal | $19,809,000 | +184.4% |
| 76. | Estonia | $19,106,000 | +598.8% |
| 77. | Romania | $17,711,000 | +61.4% |
| 78. | France | $10,686,000 | -74% |
| 79. | Lithuania | $5,989,000 | -51.4% |
| 80. | Venezuela | $5,988,000 | -99.8% |
| 81. | Barbados | $5,642,000 | -39.3% |
| 82. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $4,293,000 | +783.3% |
| 83. | Belize | $2,757,000 | +12.8% |
| 84. | Fiji | $2,549,000 | +172% |
| 85. | Latvia | $2,448,000 | +37% |
| 86. | Slovakia | $1,974,000 | +223.6% |
| 87. | Jamaica | $1,477,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Moldova | $1,007,000 | +20.9% |
| 89. | Kyrgyzstan | $637,000 | -93.8% |
| 90. | Tanzania | $493,000 | +54.5% |
| 91. | Zambia | $342,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Panama | $224,000 | +22300% |
| 93. | Serbia | $110,000 | -17% |
| 94. | Japan | $38,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Slovenia | $15,000 | +25% |
| 96. | Kenya | $8,000 | +300% |
| 97. | Czech Republic | $3,000 | -62.5% |
| 98. | Zimbabwe | $1,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Switzerland | $1,000 | -50% |
| 100. | Saint Lucia | $1,000 | 0% |
Expanding the scope to include all 100 crude oil exporters, the fastest gainers from 2020 to 2021 were Singapore (up 1,884,020%), Panama (up 22,300%), Germany (up 3,525%), Sweden (up 1,766%) and South Africa (up 1,249%).
Year over year, the severest declines were posted by Venezuela (down -99.8%), Kyrgyzstan (down -93.8%), Congo (down -74.3%), France (down -73.8%), Czech Republic (down -62.5%) then Cuba (down -56.7%).
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 2020 data was unavailable.
Crude Oil Exports from OPEC Countries
In 2021, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was comprised of 13 nations united by common financial 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 an estimated US$459.5 billion worth of crude oil in 2021. That dollar total translates to 47.8% of all globally exported crude petroleum by value. OPEC’s percentage share increased from 47.2% in 2017 but fell from the 52.5% score one year earlier in 2020.
Focusing exclusively on OPEC exports, the dollar value of crude oil exported from OPEC members accelerated by 24.5% compared to 2020. The most recent annual upswing is far greater than the 2.3% increase over the 5-year period starting in 2017.
See also US Crude Oil Imports by Supplier Countries, OPEC Countries Crude Oil Exports Sales Data, Crude Oil Imports by Country, Largest Oil and Gas Export Companies and Best Solar & Wind Exporters Powering International Energy Sales
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, The World Factbook. Accessed on June 22, 2022
Forbes 2021 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 22, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 22, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 22, 2022
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Member Countries. Accessed on June 22, 2022
Wikipedia, Big Oil. Accessed on June 22, 2022
