Countries Most Dependent on Oil Trade

According to a report from the Economist this past March, the economy of the African nation on the Atlantic coast will contract this year, but will resume expansion as energy production increases. Economists believe high oil prices in 2022-2023 will help boost the economy. Crude petroleum and petroleum gas are Equatorial Guinea’s top exports.

Oil on the Caribbean island nation of Barbados, where oil has been drilled since 1896, is produced by the Barbados National Oil Company Ltd., formed by the government in 1982. The nation produces about 1,000 barrels of oil per day, which is sent to Trinidad for refining. The country’s leading imports are refined petroleum and crude petroleum.

The Low Country is a refining and trading center of oil for Europe, with large amounts of oil transiting through the port at Rotterdam. The Netherlands’ top export is refined petroleum, and its leading imports are crude petroleum and refined petroleum. The Netherlands has been increasing imports of oil from Russia since the beginning of the 21st century, with the share of Russian oil increasing from 6% of total volume of imported crude oil in 2000 to about 28% today.

The Papua New Guinea government raised concerns last fall over Australian-based Santos Ltd.’s takeover of Port Moresby-based Oil Search Ltd. The government said the deal could give a foreign company too much control over the country’s oil and gas resources. The country’s top export is petroleum gas, and its leading import is refined petroleum.

There are concerns a renewed civil war could erupt in Libya, imperiling its oil industry. In early March, Libya’s national oil company said an armed group shut down two major oil fields, causing the country’s daily oil production to drop by 330,000 barrels. Crude petroleum is by far Libya’s leading export, and refined petroleum is its top import.