Who used to produce the most Oil

Something that I found interesting is that in 1975 the oil producing countries of the world looked quite different. From The Peoples Almanac, The Book of Lists published in 1978 I came across this list of the 13 largest producers of Crude Oil in 1975.

Millions of Metric Tons
Produced
1. U.S.S.R 490.0
2. U.S. 485.5
3. Saudi Arabia 337.3
4. Iran 268.2
5. Venezuela 124.0
6. Iraq 111.3
7. Kuwait 93.3
8. Nigeria 87.8
9. Canada 80.0
10. Peoples Republic of China 78.0
11. Libya 71.0
12. Abu Dhabi 64.6
13. Indonesia 63.0

I never would have fathomed that US was a top producer of oil at any time in history.


[edit on 22-6-2004 by BlackJackal]

You've never heard of JR Ewing?

lol no kidding. there was a time in america that if there was oil coming out of a hole we stuck a pump in it.

i dont know why this seems so surprising to you. maybe you just think we "steal" it?

It still have oil coming from a hose on a hole in the ground but find who is the ones that own it.

www.eia.doe.gov...

this is a table of oil production in US.

No I suppose my history is a little rusty in this area. I just assumed that we had always depended on foreign oil. I suppose the moral of this thread is that I am ignorant in this field.

Originally posted by marg6043

www.eia.doe.gov...

this is a table of oil production in US.

Hmm, the amount of Oil per well has dropped even though technology for extracting oil has improved.

The US has vast oil reserves. Someone smart, when gas prices were regulated, figured if they can only make x% profit on the oil, it is to their advantage to pay more for it-foreign oil. There is also a logic that says it is better to use up all the rest of the worlds oil and save our oil for last.

Originally posted by marg6043
It still have oil coming from a hose on a hole in the ground but find who is the ones that own it.

www.eia.doe.gov...

this is a table of oil production in US.

Great link,

I find it interesting that the oil production reached its peak in 1970 and since then has dropped by 60% since then.

I find it interesting that the oil production reached its peak in 1970 and since then has dropped by 60% since then.

by BlackJackal

You know, that will make a good post on itself, I wonder why? I guess after the 70s, started to buy more from other oil producing countries? Sometimes this thing about keeping our reserves for the future sound to bogus to me. Any comments?