Fuel Production

Fuel is crucial to many industries all over the world and therefore it’s production plays a big part in our economy as well as our environment. We all know the effects high oil prices have on the price of fuel but it also has wider reaching impacts on everyday expenses like your weekly shop.

Fuel Producing Countries

Fuel is created from the natural substance of crude oil. Countries that have access to drilling oil are some of the richest countries in the world, as is reflected in their GNP.

GNP stands for Gross National Product. A country’s GNP represents the value of products and services produced by a country in one year.

Top Fuel Producing Countries by GNP

We can see how drilling oil affects a country’s wealth by comparing the top 10 fuel producing countries by their Gross National Income (formerly GNP, World Bank Data 2011) world position:

1. US: Position No.1 for highest GNI in the world.
2. China: Position No.3 for highest GNI in the world.
3. Brazil: Position No.8 for highest GNI in the world.
4. Canada: Position No.10 for highest GNI in the world.
5. Russia: Position No.12 for highest GNI in the world.
6. Mexico: Position No.13 for highest GNI in the world.
7. Saudi Arabia: Position No.23 for highest GNI in the world.
8. Iran: Position No.26 for highest GNI in the world.
9. Kuwait: Position No.50 for highest GNI in the world.
10. United Arab Emirate: Position unknown for highest GNI in the world.

Source: World Bank Data, 2011. World Development Indicators. [online] Available at: http://data.worldbank.org/ [Accessed 2 August 2011]

Top Oil Producing Countries by Barrels Per Day

We know which countries produce the most oil as we can access data which shows the amount of barrels of oil each country produces per day. The top 10 fuel producing countries by barrel per day (bbl/day) production are:

1. Russia: 10,120,000 bbl/day
2. Saudi Arabia: 9,764,000 bbl/day
3. United States: 9,056,000 bbl/day
4. Iran: 4,172,000 bbl/day
5. China: 3,991,000 bbl/day
6. Canada: 3,289,000 bbl/day
7. Mexico: 3,001,000 bbl/day
8. United Arab Emirates: 2,798,000 bbl/day
9. Brazil: 2,572,000 bbl/day
10. Kuwait: 2,494,000 bbl/day

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, 2010. The World Factbook. [online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov [Accessed 2 August 2011]

Countries’ GNI and Oil Production Compared

This table shows the top 10 fuel producing countries compared with their GNI from 2009 to show the effect oil production has on a country’s wealth.

The UK’s Fuel Industry

The UK’s fuel industry is home to some of the world’s biggest fuel companies such as BP and Shell who’s products and services are used around the globe. As such the importation and refining of crude oil and it’s production into petroleum and other petrochemicals are a major part of the fuel industry in the UK.

The investments being made by the UK fuel companies in the research and development of new technologies to improve fuel extraction as well as produce greener fuels are also impacting the fuel industry as a whole.

UK’s crude oil imports

As the UK does not have enough oil reserves of it’s own to be able to sustain our demand we therefore rely on importing it from other countries.

During the end of the 1940′s the UK’s ability to produce it’s own oil products made a quantum leap forward with the development of refining capacities. This subsequently led to the level of crude oil being imported to the UK to skyrocket.

From the 1950′s the main source of these imports were coming from the Middle East, peaking at over 80 million barrels of crude oil in the mid 1970′s. As well as the Middle East the UK was also importing from The Americas, Norway and Africa during this period, though in far smaller quantities.

The oil crisis of 1974 however made a dramatic change in the UK’s crude oil imports. After an oil embargo had been proclaimed by the OAPEC (Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) the levels of crude oil imported by the UK from the Middle east took a sharp nosedive to less than 10 million barrels in a relatively short span of 10 years.

To compensate for the embargo in the Middle East the UK increased it’s reliance on imports from the North Sea area and other crude oil producing countries such as Norway saw a steady increase in trade.

UK Refineries

Demand for petroleum products followed the economic recovery after WWII. The prosperity the economic recovery gave people resulted in increased car ownership within the population and along with a better road network led to the necessity of many of the 9 major refineries we have in the UK today.

Refineries have undergone significant advancements since their introduction in the late 1950′s in order to keep up with the increasingly more complex and greener fuels the UK now demands. Their distribution within the UK is typically coastal or estuarial because of the need to have deep water connection capable of accommodation large oil tankers.

• Chevron Pembroke Refinery
• ConocoPhillips Humber Refinery
• ExxonMobil Refinery Fawley
• INEOS Grangemouth Refinery
• Murco Milford Haven Refinery
• Petroplus Coryton Refinery
• Petroplus Refining Teesside
• Shell Stanlow Manufacturing Complex
• Total Lindsey Oil Refinery

UK’s contributions to new fuels

Biofuels

Back in 2009 the Government announced the launch of a £27 million centre that will lead the world in the research of sustainable biofuels. The plan being that by working closely with industry partners new developments in technology can be implemented, practically and successfully into the industry.

Hydrogen

After 15 year in the making, the Sheffield based ITM Power have been able to convert a car to run on 100% on hydrogen and produces no harmful carbon emissions with it’s only output being water.

Although most of the large car manufacturers have been trying to develop hydrogen powered cars, this UK company has been able to develop a global first by solving the problem of where does a car that runs on hydrogen refuel. The answer was to develop a machine that takes water and electricity and converts it to hydrogen, which you can use to fill up your car in the exact same way you would have done with petrol.

The potential behind this technology is very promising as hydrogen is the most abundant substance in our Universe which is in contrast to the finite reserves of fossil fuels we are currently dependant on. Whether or not the cost of the hydrogen engine and the extraction process can be made economically viable will play an important step in it’s practical application.

UK Fuel Trade

The UK’s fuel industry contributes to the UK economy through employment, tax revenue and investment. The majority of UK oil production systems are located in the North Sea. As well as producing oil to trade, the UK also refines the oil internally to produce fuel. At the moment there are 9 refineries creating fuel across the country.

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, 2010. The World Factbook. [online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov [Accessed 2 August 2011]

Trading Fuel

Fuel is a product which is sourced from crude oil. Crude oil is a highly sought after and traded resource throughout the world. Most countries are involved in the trading of oil as most countries need fuel to keep their economy afloat.

Worldwide Oil Trade

Trading oil is hugely important for any country’s economy. As shown in Top 10 fuel producing countries by GNP, countries producing oil and making fuel are some of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Oil is so important for countries because it is used to make plastic, manufacturing materials, pharmaceuticals and most importantly fuel. Without fuel we could not power our cars, lorries, boats, planes and much more. Therefore, without oil, industry would come to a stop. This is what makes the oil trade such an illustrious industry. There are other energy resources which can be used to create fuel alternatives, but for the moment oil is a highly sought after resource and plays a major part in the international fuel trade industry.

Exporters of Oil

Exporting oil is a great financial resource for most countries. If a country makes more money than they use they can sell it to other countries at a high profit as it is such a desirable product. As oil is often found beneath the sea, there can be controversy as to who the oil belongs to. There is also sometimes conflict between countries over the subject of oil.

The countries exporting the most barrels of oil per day:

The countries highlighted in blue on the map produce more oil than they need which puts them in a good position to export oil to other countries.

Importers of Oil

Although the US produces the 3rd largest number of barrels of oil per day, they also consume the most barrels of oil per day. Therefore the majority of the fuel they produce they use for themselves and do not trade. As they are the biggest consumer of oil they also import a great deal of oil. Countries only import oil if they use more oil than they produce themselves.

The countries importing the most barrels of fuel per day: