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$639.7 billion worth of crude oil around the globe in 2023.
That dollar amount represents a 44.1% increase compared to $444.1 billion 5 years earlier in 2019, but a -4.1% year-over-year reduction compared to $666.7 billion during 2022.
As a cartel, OPEC countries’ ability to collude and influence oil prices has fluctated over the past 5 years.
In 2019, OPEC nations collected over half (52.5%) of revenues from globally exported crude oil. Five years later, OPEC’s percentage share of the world total had advanced to 54.6% for 2023.
OPEC Crude Oil Exports by Country
The 5 biggest OPEC suppliers of globally exported crude oil are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria. Combined, that quintet of leading OPEC crude oil providers generated over three-quarters (78.3%) of the cartel’s overall sales for crude oil exported during 2023.
- United Arab Emirates: US$162.8 billion (25.4% of OPEC crude oil exports)
- Saudi Arabia: $139.7 billion (21.8%)
- Iraq: $99.6 billion (15.6%)
- Kuwait: $49.8 billion (7.8%)
- Nigeria: $48.9 billion (7.6%)
- Iran: $40.3 billion (6.3%)
- Libya: $31.5 billion (4.9%)
- Angola: $31.4 billion (4.9%)
- Algeria: $15.8 billion (2.5%)
- Congo: $6.7 billion (1%)
- Gabon: $6.6 billion (1%)
- Venezuela: $4 billion (0.6%)
- Equatorial Guinea: $2.5 billion (0.4%)
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 (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran) generated more than three-quarters (76.9%) of OPEC crude oil sales during 2023.
OPEC Crude Oil Exporters: Fastest Growers and Decliners
The top gainer for higher OPEC crude oil sales from 2019 to 2023 was the United Arab Emirates via a 190.8% increase over the 5-year period. In second place was Iran (up 138.9%) trailed by Gabon (up 63.6%) and Congo (up 52.2%).
Percentage declines over the 5-year period belong to sellers located in Venezuela (down -72.8% from 2019) and Equatorial Guinea (down -28.2%).
Sharpening our scope to year over year, the strongest percentage gains among OPEC member in terms of international sales of crude oil belong to Venezuela (up 605.7% from 2022), Iran (up 22.1%), Saudi Arabia (up 7.3%) and the United Arab Emirates (up 5.4%).
Double-digit percentage decliners from 2022 to 2023 were Equatorial Guinea (down -41%), Kuwait (down -26.8%), Angola (down -22%), Iraq (down -17.2%) then Algeria (down -15.2%).
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 December 20, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 20, 2024
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies, OPEC Member Countries. Accessed on December 20, 2024
United Nations Comtrade Database, OPEC Member Countries. Accessed on December 20, 2024
Wikipedia, OPEC. Accessed on December 20, 2024
