According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States has been the leading producer of crude oil globally for the past six years, as per the International Energy Statistics.
As EIA informs, in 2023, the country achieved an unprecedented milestone, averaging 12.9 million barrels per day (b/d) in crude oil production, surpassing the previous U.S. and global record set in 2019 at 12.3 million b/d. December 2023 witnessed a monthly record high, with U.S. crude oil production exceeding 13.3 million b/d.
The likelihood of another country surpassing the U.S. crude oil production record in 2023 seems slim, given that no other nation has reached the production capacity of 13.0 million b/d. Recent plans by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco to increase production capacity to 13.0 million b/d by 2027 were scrapped.
Together, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia contributed 40% (32.8 million b/d) to global oil production in 2023. These three nations have consistently outproduced others since 1971, although the top-ranking position has shifted among them over the past five decades. In contrast, the combined production of the next three largest countries—Canada, Iraq, and China—amounted to 13.1 million b/d in 2023, slightly more than the production of the United States alone.
After peaking at 9.6 million b/d in 1970, annual U.S. crude oil production experienced a decline until reaching a low of 5.0 million b/d in 2008. Subsequently, production increased steadily from 2009 onwards, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when demand and prices dropped due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico played a pivotal role in driving the overall increases in crude oil and natural gas production in the United States.
While Russia held the title of the world’s leading crude oil producer in 2017, its production growth has lagged behind the United States. In 2019, Russia’s average annual production peaked at 10.8 million b/d, trailing the United States by 1.4 million b/d. Recent voluntary production cuts in November 2022 and additional cuts of 500,000 b/d in February 2023, attributed to OPEC+ decisions, impacted Russian production.
However, the primary cause of the cuts appears to be sanctions and voluntary actions in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite the reductions being smaller than anticipated, production in Russia is estimated to have declined by only 200,000 b/d in 2023.
Saudi Arabia experienced a peak in average annual production in 2022 at 10.6 million b/d, lagging behind the United States by 1.3 million b/d. In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production decreased by approximately 900,000 b/d due to OPEC+ cuts and additional voluntary cuts made to counter weaker demand growth.
Saudi Arabia’s production volume in 2023 could not surpass that of the United States, given the state-owned Saudi Aramco’s stated production capacity of 12.0 million b/d, with an additional 300,000 b/d capacity from its share of the Neutral Zone area shared with Kuwait.
