Crude oil is a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons that is used in the production of products including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heating oils, all of which are instrumental in the daily lives of people all over the world. Crude oil is yellow to black in color and of variable density and viscosity. Crude oil is extracted from reserves and then put through a distillation process that breaks the crude oil into various components, called fractions, which are then converted into final products. In addition to the fuels listed above, heavier crude oil fractions are used to make lubricating oils such as petroleum jelly for detergents and soaps.
Crude Oil in the United States
The United States is the world's largest producer of crude oil, producing about 12.108 million barrels per day. The main oil-producing states in the U.S. are Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. The U.S. surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2018 to become the world’s largest crude oil producer. While the United States is the largest producer of oil, it is also the largest consumer of oil. The U.S. consumes about 19.69 million barrels of crude oil per day. Because this is more oil than the U.S. produces each day, the oil must be imported from other countries.
U.S. Oil Imports by Country
According to data from the U.S. Energy and Information Administration, the United States imported between 8.1-8.8 million barrels of crude oil per day from July-December 2021. Just over a million barrels per day come from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations, led by roughly 550,000 barrels a day from Saudi Arabia. The U.S. also imports nearly 7.5 million barrels of crude oil per day from non-OPEC nations. Chief among these is Canada, which supplies the U.S. with approximately 4.7 million barrels per day, significantly more than any other nation.
Top 10 Countries from Which the U.S. Imports Oil (in barrels per day Dec. 2021):
- Canada — 4,783,000
- Mexico — 645,000
- Saudi Arabia — 550,000
- Russia — 405,000
- Colombia — 228,000
- Iraq — 223,000
- Ecuador — 219,000
- United Kingdom — 126,000
- Nigeria — 110,000
- South Korea — 102,000