The Biggest Oil Producer in the World Is in North America

The United States is the biggest oil producer and the biggest oil producing country by both recent crude output and total petroleum liquids. EIA says U.S. crude oil production, including condensate, averaged 12.9 million barrels per day in 2023 and set a record that topped any country at any time.

Monthly output then moved to about 13.3 million barrels per day in December 2023 and later reached a new monthly record in 2024, with the agency now expecting U.S. crude oil production to average 13.6 million barrels per day in 2026.

A huge part of that rise comes from shale oil in the Permian Basin, where longer lateral wells and better completion methods have improved output per rig. EIA notes that Permian production reached 6.0 million barrels per day in December 2025, or 44 percent of total U.S. oil production, and the region also throws off large volumes of associated natural gas.

Texas has long been the anchor of that growth, accounting for about 42 percent of U.S. crude oil production in EIA data.

The U.S. oil industry also looks different from the oil industry in many oil producing nations. Instead of one national oil company running the whole show, domestic production comes from a mix of supermajors and independent companies.

ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are major producers, and all reported strong 2025 output.

Even with some producers trimming spending, higher efficiency has kept growth going.

Saudi Arabia remains No. 2 among the top oil producers, with 11.13 million barrels per day in 2023 according to EIA. That keeps the kingdom at roughly 11 percent of the world total and makes it the most important producer in the Middle East when markets are watching spare capacity.

Saudi Arabia's role is larger than its annual output number because it often acts through OPEC+ policy. In 2023 and into the first half of 2025, Saudi Arabia maintained voluntary production cuts to support oil prices and help manage oil supply.

The International Energy Agency says OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, began unwinding some of those curbs in 2025, which reset supply expectations for the next year and beyond.

One company towers over that system: Saudi Aramco. Aramco remains the dominant player in Saudi petroleum, with giant reserves, massive exports and an integrated business that stretches from upstream crude to refined products and petrochemicals.

Aramco also says it intends to maintain its position as the world's largest crude oil company by production volume.

Russia ranked third in 2023 at 10.75 million barrels per day, also about 11 percent of global total production. That makes it one of the major producers that can move world oil prices when its output or exports change.

Russia matters not only because of barrels, but because those barrels flow into many markets through pipelines, ports, and refined products trade.

When sanctions, shipping problems or conflict interfere with those flows, the effect tends to hit the whole global oil system. That's why oil prices respond to world supply conditions rather than to the production of any single country.

Canada came in fourth at 5.76 million barrels per day in 2023, giving it about 6 percent of global total petroleum liquids production. A lot of that output comes from oil sands, along with conventional crude and condensate production.

Canada's growth story is steady rather than flashy. Analysts expected Canadian crude oil production to grow by about 8 percent by 2025, supported by new export capacity and resilient upstream investment.

In a market that is always hunting for reliable barrels, Canada's importance comes from scale, political stability, and close trade ties with the United States.

China ranked No. 5 in 2023 at 5.26 million barrels per day, or about 5 percent of the world total. That made the top five oil producers the United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, and China—and together they supplied about 55 percent of global oil production.

China's production matters even more because it sits inside one of the world's largest energy systems. The country is a major importer of crude, a huge refiner, and a major source of demand for petroleum products.

PetroChina describes itself as China's largest oil and gas producer and distributor, which helps explain why even modest changes in Chinese output can ripple through global oil markets.

Iraq produced 4.42 million barrels per day in 2023, according to EIA. That put it at No. 6 among oil-producing nations and kept it central to the export picture in the Middle East.

Iraq's role can look smaller than Saudi Arabia's, but its barrels still matter in a tight market. Any disruption in Iraqi exports changes the balance between supply and demand, and that can filter into crude benchmarks, refining margins, and eventually gas prices for consumers far from the Persian Gulf.

Brazil produced 4.28 million barrels per day in 2023. Offshore growth has turned it into one of the most closely watched non-OPEC suppliers in the world.

Brazil is a good reminder that the future of oil supply is not only about legacy producers. New deepwater projects, better offshore technology, and growing biofuels capacity give Brazil a broader energy profile than a simple crude ranking might suggest.

That mix matters as the world tries to balance current petroleum demand with longer-term shifts toward renewable energy.

The United Arab Emirates produced 4.16 million barrels per day in 2023. Like Saudi Arabia, it combines sizable crude output with strategic weight inside OPEC+.

The UAE's barrels are especially important because they sit near one of the most sensitive shipping chokepoints on Earth. Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz can push prices higher almost immediately, and those moves often show up later in wholesale fuel markets and at the pump.

Iran produced 3.99 million barrels per day in 2023, enough to rank No. 9 among the top oil producers in the world. That output shows how much the country still matters in global trade, even under sanctions and shifting trade restrictions.

Iran is a clear case study in how production, markets, and geopolitics overlap. Changes in Iranian exports can alter regional balances, move prices, and shape refinery buying patterns in Asia.

For consumers, the lesson is simple: Crude is global, and gasoline prices follow the broader market more than any one nation's domestic production headline.

Kuwait produced 2.91 million barrels per day in 2023, rounding out EIA's top 10 list. On its own, that may look like a smaller share, but these last few entries still add up to a huge slice of world oil supply.

Looking ahead, the picture gets even larger. EIA's International Energy Outlook projects global crude oil production could reach 92.7 million barrels per day in 2050, while total liquid fuels production could reach 121.5 million barrels per day. At the same time, the IEA's March 2026 Oil Market Report says demand growth is slowing and facing pressure from the global economy and efficiency gains. That means the top oil map may keep shifting in the future, even as oil, natural gas, refining and petrochemicals remain central to the world economy for years to come.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.