The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an international alliance comprised of 13 member countries.
In alphabetical order, the 13 OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
OPEC members shipped US$561.1 billion worth of crude oil around the globe in 2022.
That dollar amount represents a 1% increase from $555.3 billion five years earlier in 2018, and a 25.4% year-over-year acceleration compared to $447.3 billion during 2021.
As a cartel, OPEC countries’ ability to collude and influence oil prices has weakened noticeably over the past 5 years.
In 2018, OPEC nations collected almost three-fifths (59.1%) of revenues from globally exported crude oil. Five years later, OPEC’s percentage share of the world total had dwindled to 46.8% for 2022.
OPEC Crude Oil Exports by Country
The 5 biggest OPEC suppliers of globally exported crude oil are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. Combined, that quintet of leading OPEC crude oil providers generated over three-quarters (76.4%) of the cartel’s overall sales for crude oil exported during 2022.
- Saudi Arabia: US$130.2 billion (23.2% of OPEC crude oil exports)
- Iraq: $120.2 billion (21.4%)
- Kuwait: $69.9 billion (12.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: $58.7 billion (10.5%)
- Nigeria: $49.9 billion (8.9%)
- Angola: $40.3 billion (7.2%)
- Libya: $33.8 billion (6%)
- Iran: $22.5 billion (4%)
- Algeria: $18.6 billion (3.3%)
- Congo: $6.7 billion (1.2%)
- Gabon: $5.6 billion (1%)
- Equatorial Guinea: $4.2 billion (0.8%)
- Venezuela: $6 million (0.1%)
While OPEC is headquartered the non-OPEC capital city of Vienna, Austria, the largest OPEC exporters of crude oil are Middle Eastern countries. The Mideast export nations (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iran) generated more than two-thirds (70.9%) of OPEC crude oil sales during 2022.
OPEC Crude Oil Exporters: Fastest Growers and Decliners
The top gainer for higher OPEC crude oil sales from 2018 to 2022 was Kuwait via a 35.2% increase over the 5 year period. In second place was Libya (up 33.4%) trailed by Iraq (up 30.8%), Gabon (up 28.9%), Nigeria (up 14.5%) and Angola (up 10.3%).
The severest percentage declines over the 5-year period belong to sellers located in Venezuela (down -97.9% from 2018), Iran (down -55.8%) and Congo (down -26.9%).
Limiting the scope to year over year, the strongest percentage gains among OPEC member in terms of international sales of crude oil belong to Venezuela (up 9,470% from 2021), Congo (up 522.2%), Kuwait (up 67.4%), Iraq (up 57.1%) and Algeria (up 55.9%).
The lone OPEC decliner from 2021 to 2022 was the United Arab Emirates which recorded a -40.7% reduction in crude oil sales year over year.
See also Crude Oil Exports by Country, Refined Oil Exports by Country, US Crude Oil Exports & Imports by State and Petroleum Gas Exports by Country
Research Sources:
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 27, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 27, 2023
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies, OPEC Member Countries. Accessed on October 27, 2023
United Nations Comtrade Database, OPEC Member Countries. Accessed on October 27, 2023
Wikipedia, OPEC. Accessed on October 27, 2023