Top Oil Consuming Countries

World oil consumption has increased 18.4% from 71.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 1996 to 84.9 mbpd in 2006.

From year 2000 to 2006, global oil usage rose 11.4%. The annual increase in oil consumption in 2006 was up 1.4% from 2005, slightly down from the 2.8% increase in 2005 from 2004. Still, euroekonom.com projects that world demand for oil will rise 1.9% to 86.5 mbpd in 2007.

The following countries are the heaviest oil users and therefore the most dependent on imports from oil-rich countries.

World’s Top Oil Consuming Countries 2006

1. United States … 21 million barrels per day (up 18.6% from 1994)
2. China … 7 mbpd (up 118.8%)
3. Japan … 5.4 mbpd (down 6.9%)
4. India … 2.7 mbpd (up 92.9%)
5. Russia … 2.7 mbpd (down 18.2%)
6. Germany … 2.5 mbpd (down 13.8%)
7. Canada … 2.3 mbpd (up 21.1%)
8. South Korea … 2.2 mbpd (up 22.2%)
9. Brazil … 2.2 mbpd (up 57.1%)
10. Mexico … 2.1 mbpd (up 50%)

Oil is a key component propelling the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many of the world's top oil consuming countries. Hence all top oil-consumers other than South Korea are also on our list of richest GDP countries.

China and India have experienced the fastest rise in demand for oil, the fuel of choice driving these increasingly industrialized nations. Brazil has also shown robust oil consumption, although somewhat moderated by their government’s push for ethanol. Russia has in fact decreased its demand for oil, as have Japan and Germany.

From the above list, we also see that America consumes as much oil as the next five highest oil consumers combined. So not only is the U.S. the world’s biggest oil consumer, the planet’s most industrialized economy is also the most vulnerable to oil price hikes.

World Oil Prices

At their recent record highs of US$72 per barrel, oil prices have spiked 500% since hitting around $12 in the late 1990s. Oil plays a major role in producing so many consumer products around the globe. The question, then, becomes whether those consumers will be able to maintain demand for both domestically produced goods and imports in face of higher costs. In other words, how long will consumers absorb the higher oil prices that eventually will have to be passed on to them?

Just who’s fooling who here? Oil helped fuel the recent boom in international trade. If crude oil prices keep going up petroleum will also bring global trade down - hard.

Sources for this Article

This article presents independent calculations and insights based on data drawn from euroekonom.com.

Oil pumps in the sunset.

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