Countries Most Dependent on Oil Trade

The western African nation of Togo has no proven oil reserves. According to CIA estimates from 2015, Togo consumes 13,100 barrels of oil per day. Refined petroleum is the top export and import in Togo.

Brunei Darussalam, a tiny country located on the island of Borneo in the Pacific, holds 1.1 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, ranking 39th in the world. It produces more than 121,000 barrels of oil per day. One of the nation’s famed landmarks is the Billionth Barrel Monument, commemorating the billionth barrel of oil produced at the Seria oilfield, which was accomplished in 1991. The top exports and imports of Brunei are petroleum gas and refined petroleum.

St. Lucia, an island nation in the Caribbean Sea north of Trinidad and Tobago, is vulnerable to various external shocks, including dependence on foreign oil. The nation has no proven reserves of oil. The country’s top export is refined petroleum, and the leading import is crude petroleum.

Nauru, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, is south of the Marshall Islands. It is the third-smallest country in the world behind the Holy See (Vatican City) and Monaco. The nation of fewer than 10,000 people has no proven oil reserves. It consumed 469 barrels per day of oil as of 2016. The top import of Nauru is refined petroleum.

The Marshall Islands, an island country near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, is the nation most dependent on oil. In 2016, the Marshall Islands became one of the leading destinations for U.S. crude exports even though that nation did not have a refinery to process oil. The Marshall Islands became a destination for oil after the U.S. removed restrictions on exporting U.S. crude in December 2015. With a population of about 50,000 people, the nation is not the final destination for the importation of oil but a transfer point for other ships bound for Asian ports.