In 2009 I wrote a post in which I compiled a comprehensive list of the world’s oil producing nations by peak-oil status, based on BP’s annually-released Statistical Review of World Energy. I’ve updated that list here using the data released in 2011, which includes production data through 2010. The new list shows that several more countries have either passed peak production or are currently stuck on a production plateau. Here is the data:

Country Peak Prod % Off Peak 2010 Prod Peak Yr US 11,297 -33.5% 7,513 1970 Venezuela 3,754 -34.2% 2,471 1970 Other Middle East 79 -52.2% 38 1970 Libya 3,357 -50.6% 1,659 1970 Kuwait 3,339 -24.9% 2,508 1972 Iran 6,060 -30.0% 4,245 1974 Romania 313 -71.5% 89 1976 Indonesia 1,685 -41.5% 986 1977 Trinidad & Tobago 230 -36.6% 146 1978 Iraq 3,489 -29.5% 2,460 1979? Brunei 261 -34.0% 172 1979 Peru 196 -19.8% 157 1980 Tunisia 118 -32.7% 80 1980 Other Europe & Eurasia 12,938 -97.1% 374 1983 Other Africa 241 -41.0% 143 1985 Russian Federation 11,484 -10.6% 10,270 1987 Egypt 941 -21.7% 736 1993 Syria 596 -35.4% 385 1995 Gabon 365 -32.8% 245 1996 Argentina 890 -26.9% 651 1998 Uzbekistan 191 -54.5% 87 1998 Colombia 838 -4.5% 801 1999? United Kingdom 2,909 -54.0% 1,339 1999 Australia 809 -30.5% 562 2000 Norway 3,418 -37.5% 2,137 2001 Oman 960 -9.9% 865 2001? Yemen 457 -42.2% 264 2002 Other S. & Cent. America 153 -14.2% 131 2003 Mexico 3,824 -22.6% 2,958 2004 Denmark 390 -36.0% 249 2004 Malaysia 793 -9.7% 716 2004? Vietnam 427 -13.5% 370 2004 Italy 127 -16.4% 106 2005 Saudi Arabia 11,114 -10.0% 10,007 2005? Chad 173 -29.7% 122 2005 Equatorial Guinea 358 -23.5% 274 2005 Nigeria 2,499 -3.9% 2,402 2005? Ecuador 545 -9.1% 495 2006? United Arab Emirates 3,149 -9.5% 2,849 2006? Algeria 2,016 -10.2% 1,809 2007 Angola 1,875 -1.3% 1,851 2008 / Growing Other Asia Pacific 340 -8.2% 312 2008? Canada 3,336 – 3,336 Growing Brazil 2,137 – 2,137 Growing Azerbaijan 1,037 – 1,037 Growing Kazakhstan 1,757 – 1,757 Growing Turkmenistan 216 – 216 Growing Qatar 1,569 – 1,569 Growing Rep. of Congo (Brazzaville) 292 – 292 Growing Sudan 486 – 486 Growing China 4,071 – 4,071 Growing India 826 – 826 Growing Thailand 334 – 334 Growing Peaked / Flat Countries Total



64,182 78.2% of world oil production Growing Countries Total



17,912 21.8% of world oil production

This analysis shows that since 2009, a considerably larger proportion of the world’s total oil production is occurring in countries that may be at or past peak production. Only 12 countries are definitely still pushing oil production past previous highs. Saudi Arabia is a bit of a question mark – it produced 10% less than its peak year (2005) in 2010, but claims that it has ample spare capacity and reserves to push beyond the old highs. The 2010 data may also suffer from the after-effects of the financial crisis, although world oil prices and production did rebound sharply in late 2009 and 2010. While the 2012 data will show higher total world production, will they show increasing reliance on a shrinking number of growing producers?

[1] Here is my spreadsheet, based on the BP data. All production numbers in the table above are expressed in thousands of barrels of oil per day. Unless you’re ready to learn how to become a real estate agent, it’s time to start saving.

[2] The original 2011 Katy TX BP Statistical Review of World Energy spreadsheet can be found here.

[3] As in the first version of this list, a country must be 10% below peak production, and its peak must have occurred more than five years in the past, to be considered as having peaked.

[4] The notes in the original list still apply for the following countries: Russia, Malaysia, Other Africa, Nigeria, Chad, and Ecuador.