The United States has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer in 2014 while India has recorded the highest growth in energy consumption among major economies.
The US produced 15.9 per cent more oil in 2014 at 11.6 million barrels of oil per day to topple Saudi Arabia’s 11.5 million bpd production, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy released Wednesday.

Russia with 10.8 million bpd oil production was placed third.

The US surpassed Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, producing 1,250.4 million tons of oil and oil equivalent natural gas in 2014. This compared with Russia’s 1,062 million tons of oil equivalent.

BP said the US shale revolution helped it overtake “Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer and surpass Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and gas.”

On the consumption side, BP Statistical Review said world primary energy consumption slowed markedly, with growth of just 0.9 per cent in 2014, a lower rate than at any time since the late 1990s (other than in the immediate aftermath of last decade’s financial crisis).

Chinese growth in consumption slowed to its lowest level since 1998 as its economy rebalances away from energy intensive sectors, though China remained the world’s largest growth market for energy.

BP Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley said: “The eerie calm that had characterised energy markets in the few years prior to 2014 came to an abrupt end last year. However, we should not be surprised or alarmed.

“These events may well come to be viewed as symptomatic of a broader shifting of the tectonic plates that make up the energy landscape, with significant developments in both the supply of energy and its demand. Our task as an industry is to meet today’s challenges while continuing  to invest to meet tomorrow’sdemand, safely and sustainably,” he added.

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