Comfort Line - Questions and Answers

Energy is vitally important to the economies of this country and the entire world. Fossil fuels are the world’s primary energy source and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. This quarter’s Questions and Answers segment details some interesting energy statistics. This information was compiled using 2002 data obtained from the BP Statistical Review of World Energy and U.S. Census Bureau’s Global Population Profile

How much oil is consumed in the world on a daily and yearly basis?

World oil consumption is a staggering 75,747,000 barrels per day. Since each barrel contains 42 gallons, total world consumption is 3,181,374,000 gallons per day. Therefore, world oil consumption exceeds 1.16 trillion gallons per year.

How much oil is consumed in the United States on a daily and yearly basis?

In the United States, we consume 19,708,000 barrels, or 827,736,000 gallons, of oil per day. On a yearly basis we consume over 30.2 billion gallons.

What percentage of the world’s oil is consumed in the United States?

The United States consumes 25.4% of the world’s oil.

How does the United States’ oil consumption compare to its share of the world population?

In 2002, the population of the United States was 287,676,000. The world’s population was 6,228,394,000. Therefore, although the United States is only 4.6% of the world’s population, we consume 25.4% of its oil.

How does the United States’ consumption compare with other major countries?

The second largest consumer is China. With a population of 1,309,380,000, China consumes 5,362,000 barrels, or 225,204,000 gallons, per day. This equates to 7% of the world’s consumption. The third largest consumer is Japan. Japan’s population is 127,066,000 and consumption is 5,337,000 barrels or 224,154,000 gallons per day. This is 6.9% of total consumption. The balance of the top five is Germany at 3.6% and the Russian Federation at 3.5%.

Proven reserves are those quantities that geological and engineering information indicate with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future. What percentage of the world’s known reserves of fossil fuels are located in the United States?

The United States has 2.9% of the world’s known oil reserves, 3.3% of the world’s known natural gas reserves and 25.4% of the world’s known coal reserves.