Petroleum Prices in Oil-Producing Countries

by: Caitlyn Ng

If you have ever heard of the word "black gold" and thought that it referred to gold that was black in colour (a'la rose gold), well I'm sorry but that's just not the case! In this context, it is referring to petroleum, which is also known as "oil from the earth". People often wonder why it is named as such; due to its currently limited amount on earth and non-renewable status, the countries which produce this precious commodity thus place a steep price on it to reflect its rarity. In addition, there was also the saying back in the olden days when one found an oil field (considering how difficult it was without the level of advanced technology that we possess today) that it was as though one had "struck gold".
With such a precious commodity within the reach of any nation - one would assume that the first to benefit would be the producing country itself (not just from revenue but from cheaper petrol prices). But is that always the case?
We now take a look at the list of countries who have available data only that are oil-producing, to get an idea of how much the citizens themselves are paying for petrol in these countries (arranged according to their output).
The three factors that are shown include the amount produced (how many barrels per day that the country is able to produce), the price of petrol (average price of a liter of petrol) and the percentage of income spent (portion of annual income spent on total petrol purchases).
Source: International Energy Agency, Bloomberg, U.S. Energy Information Administration

1) United States

Amount Produced: 12,316,100
Price of Petrol: $0.97 / RM3.16
Percentage of Income Spent: 3.18%

2) Saudi Arabia

Amount Produced: 11,591,900
Price of Petrol: $0.12 / RM0.39
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.42%

3) Russia

Amount Produced: 10,498,200
Price of Petrol: $0.89 / RM2.90
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.82%

4) China

Amount Produced: 4,459,400
Price of Petrol: $1.23 / RM4.00
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.30%

5) Canada

Amount Produced: 4,096,600
Price of Petrol: $1.23 / RM4.00
Percentage of Income Spent: 3.03%

6) Iran

Amount Produced: 3,422,000
Price of Petrol: $0.57 / RM1.85
Percentage of Income Spent: 3.18%

7) United Arab Emirates

Amount Produced: 3,229,600
Price of Petrol: $0.47 / RM1.53
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.46%

8) Mexico

Amount Produced: 2,907,800
Price of Petrol: $0.91 / RM2.96
Percentage of Income Spent: 3.18%

9) Kuwait

Amount Produced: 2,811,800
Price of Petrol: $0.21 / RM0.68
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.54%

10) Brazil

Amount Produced: 2,712,000
Price of Petrol: $1.47 / RM4.78
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.40%

11) Venezuela

Amount Produced: 2,489,200
Price of Petrol: $0.01 / RM0.03
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.05%

12) Nigeria

Amount Produced: 2,373,200
Price of Petrol: $0.60 / RM1.95
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.76%

13) Norway

Amount Produced: 1,826,100
Price of Petrol: $2.66 / RM8.65
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.84%

14) Colombia

Amount Produced: 1,028,500
Price of Petrol: $1.19 / RM3.87
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.14%

15) India

Amount Produced: 982,200
Price of Petrol: $1.25 / RM4.07
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.26%

16) Indonesia

Amount Produced: 925,700
Price of Petrol: $0.96 / RM3.12
Percentage of Income Spent: 2.67%

17) United Kingdom (Offshore)

Amount Produced: 836,300
Price of Petrol: $2.05 / RM6.67
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.77%

18) Egypt

Amount Produced: 709,900
Price of Petrol: $0.26 / RM0.85
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.75%

19) Argentina

Amount Produced: 707,900
Price of Petrol: $1.42 / RM4.62
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.62%

20) Malaysia

Amount Produced: 630,500
Price of Petrol: $0.61 / RM1.98
Percentage of Income Spent: 2.37%

21) Thailand

Amount Produced: 473,400
Price of Petrol: $1.23 / RM4.00
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.94%

22) Australia

Amount Produced: 446,700
Price of Petrol: $1.40 / RM4.55
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.72%

23) South Africa

Amount Produced: 180,600
Price of Petrol: $1.31 / RM4.26
Percentage of Income Spent: 4.25%

24) Denmark

Amount Produced: 180,500
Price of Petrol: $2.09 / RM6.80
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.36%

25) Italy

Amount Produced: 155,100
Price of Petrol: $2.28 / RM7.42
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.56%

26) Germany

Amount Produced: 144,800
Price of Petrol: $2.12 / RM6.90
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.57%

27) Japan

Amount Produced: 135,400
Price of Petrol: $1.56 / RM5.08
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.76%

28) Brunei

Amount Produced: 134,300
Price of Petrol: $0.33 / RM1.07
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.3%

29) Philippines

Amount Produced: 26,200
Price of Petrol: $1.25 / RM4.07
Percentage of Income Spent: 1.73%

30) Singapore

Amount Produced: 20,200
Price of Petrol: $1.67 / RM5.43
Percentage of Income Spent: 0.76%
Fun Fact: Did you also know that crude oil can be "sweet" or "sour"? No, we aren't talking about its flavour, it would be highly toxic and possibly fatal if consumed! The terms "sweet" and "sour" actually refer to the amount of sulphur that is contained within; if crude oil contains only a small amount, then its the former and vice versa for the latter. There are many countries that produce petroleum, but only a few of them provide enough to support the current demand from humankind: gasoline, or better known as petrol, is actually refined petroleum used as fuel for internal combustion engines.
* Caitlyn Ng is an Investigative Journalist of SaveMoney.my, an online consumer advice portal which aims to help Malaysians save money through smart (and most of the time painless) savings in their daily banking, technology, and lifestyle spending habits.