Oil is one of the top money-making commodities in the world today. Required for the production of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and many other products, oil is one of the most fundamental and vital resources in the modern world. The production of oil is a process that only stops if there is no more oil to extract. Oil extraction is a double-edged sword, as the process of extracting, refining, and burning fossil fuels such as oil is proven to be harmful to the environment.
Roughly half of the world’s countries produce oil in some capacity. Oil production is measured in barrels per day or BPD. Most oil producing countries produce thousands, even millions of barrels per day, with their total output often limited by market forces rather than by production capability. Not surprisingly, events such as unrest in oil-producing regions, new oil field discoveries, and advances in extraction technology profoundly affect the oil industry.
Here are the top 20 largest oil producing countries in the world.
| Rank | Country | Barrels per day |
| 1. | United States | 16.6 million |
| 2. | Saudi Arabia | 11.0 million |
| 3. | Russia | 10.9 million |
| 4. | Canada | 5.4 million |
| 5. | Iraq | 4.1 million |
| 6. | China | 4.0 million |
| 7. | United Arab Emirates | 3.7 million |
| 8. | Iran | 3.6 million |
| 9. | Brazil | 3.0 million |
| 10. | Kuwait | 2.7 million |
| 11. | Norway | 2.0 million |
| 12. | Mexico | 1.9 million |
| 13. | Kazakhstan | 1.8 million |
| 14. | Qatar | 1.7 million |
| 15. | Nigeria | 1.6 million |
| 16. | Algeria | 1.4 million |
| 17. | Libya | 1.3 million |
| 18. | Angola | 1.2 million |
| 19. | Oman | 0.97 million |
| 20. | United Kingdom | 0.87 million |
