1. United States

Production: 1.35 trillion cubic meters

The US is by far the largest producer of natural gas in the world, representing nearly a quarter of global natural gas production. Its output has increased by more than 350 billion cubic meters in the past decade owing to the increasing cost of coal, and advancements in extraction technology such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

In addition to being a major natural gas producer, the US is also the biggest consumer of the fuel. In 2023, US demand for natural gas totaled 886.5 billion cubic meters, primarily for home heating and generating electricity. In the first half of 2022, Reuters reported that the US became the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the country increased shipments to Europe due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and it continues to hold that title.

In 2023, the Appalachia region led US natural gas production, contributing 29 percent of the total output. However, production growth has been hampered by limited pipeline capacity, restricting the transport of gas to demand markets.

For the first seven months of 2024, the US exported 4.42 billion cubic meters of natural gas, a 3.3 percent increase from 2023’s 4.34 billion cubic meters, and 7.5 percent more than 2022’s 4.12 billion cubic meters.

High international demand and steady domestic consumption growth will keep the US a net exporter of petroleum products and natural gas through 2050. Despite the shift to renewable electricity generation, US natural gas production is expected to rise due to increased international demand for liquefied natural gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2023.

2. Russia

Production: 586.4 billion cubic meters

As the second largest exporter and the next largest producer of natural gas in the world, Russia also holds the biggest-known natural gas reserves on the planet. The country’s state-owned energy group Gazprom reportedly holds a 16.3 percent share of global natural gas reserves. Novatek is another of the country’s main gas producers.

“Historically, production was concentrated in West Siberia, but investment has shifted in the past decade to Yamal and Eastern Siberia and the Far East, as well as the offshore Arctic,” according to the International Energy Agency.

Europe’s rejection of Russian natural gas products led to a 41 percent decline in revenues for the country’s producers in the first three quarters of 2023, reported Reuters.

Despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the latter has remained a crucial corridor for Russian natural gas into the EU. In September 2024, Russian natural gas exports that traveled through Ukraine totaled 1.26 billion cubic meters.

However, this is likely to change next year as Ukraine announced plans to end its Russian gas transit agreement, a move that analysts expect will intensify the energy tensions between the two countries.

When the current agreement expires at the end of 2024, the major route through which Russian natural gas flows to Europe will be cut off, potentially disrupting supply chains and raising concerns over energy security across the region.

3. Iran

Production: 251.7 billion cubic meters

Iran is the third largest natural gas-producing country, representing about 6 percent of global output. The Middle Eastern nation ranks second in terms of natural gas reserves. However, its natural gas infrastructure is far behind the top two natural gas producers.

Iran has tripled its natural gas production in the past decade, becoming the Middle East’s largest producer. Iran and Qatar share the world’s largest natural gas field. Iran’s portion is known as South Pars and Qatar’s, North Dome.

Iran plans to boost its production capacity by 30 percent within five years, supported by an US$80 billion investment in its gas fields, according to the nation’s Oil Minister Javad Owji. However, Qatar’s expansion of liquefied natural gas production in North Dome poses a challenge to Iran’s output ambitions.

Turkey and Iraq are major importers of Iranian natural gas, while Turkmenistan and Armenia have swap deals with Iran.

In early October, Iran and Russia signed a long-term natural gas supply deal, with Russia’s Gazprom committing to supply 109 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran annually. The agreement will boost Iran’s gas capacities, and the country plans to use the gas domestically and for re-export to countries like Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq.

The deal could also enhance regional energy security and counter the impact of sanctions such as the US ones on Iran’s energy sector.

4. China

Production: 234.3 billion cubic meters

In recent years, China’s government has incentivized the transition from coal to natural gas to reduce air pollution and meet emissions targets. Since 2013, natural gas production in China has grown by 92.3 percent, from 121.8 billion cubic meters in 2013 to 234.3 billion cubic meters in 2023, an all-time record.

China still relies on imports to meet about half of its demand. Australia, Turkmenistan, the US, Malaysia, Russia and Qatar are some of its biggest providers.

“In March 2022, China’s government released its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which sets the domestic natural gas production target at 22.3 (billion cubic feet per day) by 2025, or 3.0 (billion cubic feet per day) more than domestic production in 2021,” according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Unconventional gas sources such as shale, coal-bed methane and natural gas hydrates accounts for an estimated 43 percent of China’s total gas output.

Noted in a September Bloomberg report, China has significantly increased its underground natural gas storage ahead of winter, reflecting preparation for both peak demand and possibly reduced consumption due to a slowing economy.

The well-stocked reserves, combined with expanded storage facilities, could cushion against harsh winter conditions, but a mild season may reduce imports, especially costly liquefied natural gas spot purchases.

China’s increased domestic gas production, long-term LNG contracts and a sluggish economy, combined with expanding renewable energy, challenge future gas demand growth.

5. Canada

Production: 190.3 billion cubic meters

Canada holds 83 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves, and the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) is the prime source of the majority of Canada’s natural gas production. In addition to the WCSB, offshore fields near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the Arctic region and the Pacific coast hold significant natural gas reserves.

Canada is also a top natural gas exporter, relying exclusively on pipelines, with the US as its only trading partner. In 2022, 99 percent of all US natural gas imports came from its neighbor to the north. The fact that Canada lacks LNG infrastructure makes it an unlikely potential source for meeting Europe’s natural gas needs in lieu of Russia.

According to the data from the Government of Canada, natural gas production rose in 2023, averaging 17.9 billion cubic feet per day. In December, output hit 18.8 billion cubic feet per day. Notably, production levels exceeded 18 billion cubic feet per day for eight of the 12 months.

In mid-September, LNG Canada provided an update on the LNG Canada project and the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which LNG Canada CEO Jason Klein said is now 95 percent complete.

Once finished, the pipeline will be used to export Canadian natural gas to Asian markets, “putting Canada on the global map of LNG exporting countries and creating a world-leading LNG industry in British Columbia and Canada.”

First shipments are scheduled for mid-2025.

6. Qatar

Production: 181 billion cubic meters

Qatar is the sixth largest natural gas producer and hosts the third largest proved natural gas reserves in the world. The majority of its reserves are located in the world’s largest natural gas field, the offshore North Field, which it shares with Iran.

The Middle Eastern country also ranks as the third largest natural gas exporter and is third in the world in LNG exports as of October 2023. In recent years, Qatar has made moves to capitalize further on its resources in an effort to expand its footprint in the international natural gas market. Statista reports that state-owned Qatar Petroleum is looking “to increase its LNG export market to compete with Russian LNG deliveries.”

In early 2024 Qatar unveiled plans to increase production from the world’s largest natural gas field, aiming to raise capacity to 142 million metric tons per annum by 2030.

The North Field expansion, referred to as North Field West, is anticipated to contribute an additional 16 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually to the existing expansion efforts.

7. Australia

Production: 151.7 billion cubic meters

Since 2009, Australia has added 113 billion cubic meters of natural gas production. Nearly all of Australia’s natural gas resources are located in the massive gas fields on the North West Shelf, “providing feedstock to seven LNG projects.”

Australia’s LNG exports have grown exponentially over the past decade as several new production facilities have come online. Today, Australia has the second largest operating LNG export capacity in the world.

In late 2023, major Australian energy company Santos said it expects a decline in its natural gas production for 2024 as its Bayu-Undan offshore gas field in the Timor Sea is nearing depletion.

The federal government released its Australia’s Future Gas Strategy in May 2024. The initiative focuses on ensuring energy security and supporting the transition to net-zero by 2050 by boosting natural gas production. The government plan highlights the need for new gas supplies to prevent shortages by 2028 on the east coast and 2030 on the west coast.

While supportive of the plan, Australia’s energy producers have raised concerns of potential gas supply shortfalls by the end of the decade amid global market volatility.

Meg O’Neill, chair of Australian Energy Producers, highlighted that without action, Australia’s east and west coasts could face shortages by 2028 and 2030, respectively, which could drive up energy prices.

8. Norway

Production: 116.6 billion cubic meters

Norway is the world’s eighth largest natural gas producer and third largest natural gas exporter. The Scandinavian country has understandably replaced Russia as the major supplier to the European natural gas market. In 2023, Norway reportedly accounted for 30.3 percent of natural gas supplied to the EU.

Norway’s natural gas companies have ramped up production in response to increased demand, and in mid-2023 the government gave the green light to 19 oil and gas extraction projects in the country.

In early 2024, some concern arose that the industry may face headwinds from a proposal by a climate change committee to temporarily suspend new licenses while the government decides on a climate strategy. However, in May the government offered licenses for 37 new blocks and emphasized the industry’s importance to Norway and Europe.

Near-term gas production is forecasted to contract slightly in 2025 according to the Norwegian Budget Bill released in early October. The country’s natural gas output is expected to decline by 1.6 percent, from 123 billion cubic meters in 2024 to 121 billion cubic meters in 2025.

9. Saudi Arabia

Production: 114.1 billion cubic meters

The ninth largest natural gas-producing country, Saudi Arabia has seen its output steadily increase since 2013, reaching a record 116.7 billion cubic meters in 2022.

Mordor Intelligence reports that this production growth was due in large part to increased development of standalone natural gas wells. State-run Saudi Aramco has awarded contracts to energy companies looking to develop the country’s largest unconventional gas field, Jafurah, located near the Persian Gulf.

Currently the country does not export its natural gas production; however, the government plans to begin natural gas exports by 2030. According to the EIA, Saudi Arabia is working to replace “crude oil, fuel oil, and diesel-powered electric generators with natural gas and renewable energy generation by 2030, which will likely increase domestic natural gas demand.”

In late 2023, Saudi Arabia began investing in the LNG market with Saudi Aramco buying a stake in MidOcean Energy, which is set to acquire interests in four Australian LNG projects. In July 2024, Aramco awarded contracts worth US$12.6 billion to expand production in the Jafurah field.

10. Algeria

Production: 101.5 billion cubic meters

Rounding out the top 10 natural gas-producing countries is Algeria, which produced 101.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2023. The country’s output increased year-over-year from 97.6 billion cubic meters in 2022.

Algeria has the fifth largest LNG export capacity in the world. In 2022, nearly 85 percent of the country’s exports went to feed Europe’s natural gas demand. Italy signed an agreement with Algeria last year to increase the amount of natural gas it imports from the North African country.

From 2023 to 2028, the Algerian government expects to see its natural gas production increase by 1.4 percent annually.

In late May, Algeria signed two key hydrocarbon deals with US firms ExxonMobil (NYSE:XON) and Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) to boost its natural gas production and enhance exports to Europe. This comes as European nations seek alternatives to Russian gas amid rising demand.

FAQs for gas investing

Oil production by country

Read on for a look at the 10 top oil producing countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Canada. The top 10 countries combined for 74.59 million bpd out of the total global output of 101.81 bpd in 2023.

Statistics are from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and include total production of petroleum and other liquids. It is the most current data at the time of publication.

1. United States

Production: 21.91 million barrels per day (includes crude oil and liquids)

The US is the largest oil-producing country in the world, with output of 21.91 million barrels per day in 2023, taking the spot for the sixth year in a row. The US has been described as a swing producer because its production fluctuates alongside market prices. Texas leads the way as the biggest oil-producing state in the nation, with output more than three times as high as the second biggest oil-producing state, New Mexico.

In addition to being the largest oil producer in the world, the US is a big consumer of oil. In 2023, the US consumed an average of 20.5 million barrels per day of petroleum products.

In its October 2024 Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA forecast that US crude oil production, including lease condensate, will come in at an average of 13.22 million barrels per day in 2024 and 13.54 million barrels per day the following year.

2. Saudi Arabia

Production: 11.13 million barrels per day (includes natural gas liquids)

Saudi Arabia’s oil output came in at 11.13 million bpd in 2023. The country possesses 17 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and is the largest petroleum exporter. Its oil and gas sector accounts for around 50 percent of its gross domestic product and about 85 percent of its export earnings.

Saudi Arabia has played a key role in OPEC’s decisions to curb oil output in recent years. In 2022, the country’s US relations soured to the point that the country was unwilling to increase production in an effort to bring down rising gasoline prices.

The Associated Press notes that ‘the Saudis need higher oil prices to fund ambitious plans by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the country’s economy away from fossil fuel exports.’

However, there are signs that Saudi Arabia’s leader may be inclined to break with OPEC+ and increase its oil production. Some analysts are suggesting that the Crown Prince may be willing to deal with the economic pain of lower oil prices if it translates into a greater market share.

3. Russia

Production: 10.75 million barrels per day (includes natural gas liquids)

Prior to production cuts in 2020, Russian oil output had spent a number of years rising; it came in at 10.75 million bpd in 2023. Most of Russia’s reserves are located in West Siberia, between the Ural Mountains and the Central Siberian Plateau, as well as in the Urals-Volga region, extending into the Caspian Sea. As a member of OPEC, Russia is also curbing its production in 2024.

In response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Canada, the US, the UK and Australia have banned imports of Russian oil, representing about 13 percent of Russia’s exports. In March 2022, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that Russia could be forced to cut 30 percent of its crude oil production, resulting in a serious global oil supply crisis. “The implications of a potential loss of Russian oil exports to global markets cannot be understated,” the IEA said at the time.

While Russia’s oil exports rebounded to pre-war levels as early as April 2023 with heavy demand from China and India. However, Ukraine’s tactic of striking Russia’s key oil refineries in 2024 as a part of its defense strategy has reportedly impacted 17 percent of Russia’s oil refinery capacity as of July.

4. Canada

Production: 5.76 million barrels per day

Next on this list of the top 10 oil-producing nations is Canada. Canada’s annual oil production rose by about 10,000 bpd from the previous year to 5.76 million bpd in 2023.

Nearly all of Canada’s proven oil reserves are located in Alberta, and according to the province’s government, 97 percent of oil reserves there are in the form of oil sands. The vast majority of Canada’s total energy exports are to the USA. In fact, in 2023, 60 percent of US crude imports originated from Canada compared to 33 percent in 2013.

However, because of economic and political considerations, Canada is developing ways to diversify its trading partners, especially by expanding ties with emerging markets in Asia. For this year, all eyes are on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Western Canada, which was finally completed and operational as of May 1.

5. China

Production: 5.26 million barrels per day

China’s annual oil output was 5.26 million barrels per day in 2023. The nation is the world’s second largest consumer of oil and moved from being the second largest net importer of oil to the largest in 2014.

China is the world’s most populous country and has a rapidly growing economy, factors that have driven its high overall energy demand. The Asian country is the top consumer of oil, with the majority its imports coming from OPEC member countries Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Unsurprisingly, Chinese demand can strongly influence the oil market.

However, its oil production in 2024 is in decline. As of September, China’s oil refinery output fell for the sixth straight month, Reuters reported. Recent new discoveries look difficult to develop at the same time that production out of mature fields is falling.

In early July, the Chinese government announced the establishment of a new state-controlled body to coordinate collaboration between national oil producers and other state entities to extract harder to reach oil and gas reserves and more difficult non-conventional sources.

6. Iraq

Production: 4.42 million barrels per day

Still the second-largest oil producer in OPEC, Iraq’s annual oil production declined from 4.55 million bpd in 2022 to 4.42 million bpd for 2023.

Iraq holds 145.02 billion barrels of proven oil reserves based on 2023 OPEC data, representing 11.7 percent of global reserves. The nation’s capacity to boost production has been constrained by infrastructure and export bottlenecks. Reuters reported in early August that the Iraqi government and energy giant BP (LSE:BP,NYSE:BP) have signed a preliminary agreement to develop four oil and gas fields in the country’s northern Kirkuk region.

7. Brazil

Production: 4.28 million barrels per day

According to the IEA, total primary energy consumption in Brazil has nearly doubled in the past decade due to sustained economic growth. The largest share of Brazil’s total energy consumption is oil and other liquid fuels, followed by hydroelectricity and natural gas.

Brazil is reportedly on track to become the world’s fourth largest oil producer in the coming years. In 2024, the country’s oil output is expected to contribute significantly to global oil supply growth. The country’s top oil producer, Petrobras, is making efforts to extract as much oil as it can from its existing fields while searching for new deposits, BNN Bloomberg reported in October.

8. United Arab Emirates

Production: 4.16 million barrels per day

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is another OPEC member and has ranked among the world’s top 10 oil-producing countries for decades. In 2023, it saw a slight drop in production on OPEC production cuts. The country has proven oil reserves of 111 billion barrels, with most of those reserves located in Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company upped its crude oil output capacity to 4.85 million bpd in early May 2024 and has a planned target of 5 million bpd by 2027. However, its production was limited to 2.91 bpd of crude oil in the first half of 2024

The National Bank of Kuwait is forecasting that the UAE’s oil production will increase by 7.8 percent next year to reach 3.4 million barrels per day by the end of 2025.

9. Iran

Production: 3.99 million barrels per day

Iran ranks ninth in the world for oil production, and its total oil output grew from 3.66 million bpd in 2022 to 3.99 million barrels per day in 2023. According to the EIA, Iran holds the world’s third largest proven oil reserves, as well as the world’s second largest natural gas reserves. The majority of its 1.3 million bpd in oil exports last year went to Asia.

US sanctions and regional disputes have all weighed on Iran’s energy production sector. Despite its abundant reserves, Iran’s total oil production is still far below the 4.78 million bpd the country produced back in 2017. However, in May 2024 Iran’s crude oil and gas condensate exports reportedly reached 1.7 million barrels per day, representing a 5 year high.

As of October 2024, there are slight concerns a wider escalation of its ongoing conflict with Israel could lead to attacks on Iran’s oil infrastructure. The US recently imposed further sanctions on Iran in response to its attacks on Israel.

10. Kuwait

Production: 2.91 million barrels per day

Last on this list of the top 10 oil-producing countries is Kuwait, which produced 2.91 million barrels per day in 2023. The country has struggled in recent years to bring its oil output back up to 3.5 million bpd, with reports that key infrastructure projects have been delayed by internal political strife.

Kuwait’s oil and gas sector accounts for about 50 percent of the country’s GDP, and an even larger share of its export revenues at around 90 percent. New oil discoveries have given the country hope of increasing its oil output in the coming years. As of October 2024, Kuwait is reportedly preparing to open bidding for oil field development projects.

FAQs for oil investing

What is Donald Trump’s stance on a BRICS currency?

US President-elect Donald Trump has not been shy about upping the ante on American protectionism with his plans to slap tariffs on imported goods beginning this year. During the first US Presidential Debate between him and Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10 last year, Trump doubled down on his pledge to impose strict tariffs on nations seeking to move away from the US dollar as the global currency.

He is taking a particularly strong stance against China, threatening to implement 60 percent to 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, although these hefty tariffs would be paid by American companies and consumers purchasing Chinese products, not by China itself.

In early December, Trump posted an even more direct threat to BRICS nations on the social media platform Truth Social. “We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new Brics currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy,” he wrote.

In response to Trump demanding a ‘commitment’ from BRICS nations not to challenge the supremacy of the US dollar, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov sounded less than threatened. ‘More and more countries are switching to the use of national currencies in their trade and foreign economic activities,’ said Peskov, per Reuters. ‘If the U.S. uses force, as they say economic force, to compel countries to use the dollar it will further strengthen the trend of switching to national currencies (in international trade).’

Will BRICS have a digital currency?

BRICS nations do not as of yet have their own specific digital currency, but a BRICS blockchain-based payment system is in the works, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov in March 2024. Known as the BRICS Bridge multisided payment platform, it would connect member states’ financial systems using payment gateways for settlements in central bank digital currencies.

The planned system would serve as an alternative to the current international cross-border payment platform, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system, which is dominated by US dollars.

“We believe that creating an independent BRICS payment system is an important goal for the future, which would be based on state-of-the-art tools such as digital technologies and blockchain. The main thing is to make sure it is convenient for governments, common people and businesses, as well as cost-effective and free of politics,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian news agency TASS.

Another dollar-alternative digital currency cross-border payment system in the works is Project mBridge, under development via a collaboration between the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has also recently decided to join the project. The central bank digital currencies traded on the platform would be backed by gold and local currencies minted in member nations.

In June 2024, Forbes reported that the mBridge platform had reached a significant milestone by completing its minimal viable product stage (MVP). The MVP platform can undertake real-value transactions (subject to jurisdictional preparedness) and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), a decentralized virtual environment that executes code consistently and securely across all Ethereum nodes,’ stated the publication. ‘MVP thus is suitable as a testbed for new use cases and interoperability with other platforms.’

‘(New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff) came out and publicly said that there has been an agreement in principle to use a new settlement currency called the Unit, which will be backed 40 percent by gold and 60 percent by the local currencies in the BRICS union — the BRICS+ countries. That gold will be in the form of kilo bars and will be deliverable or redeemable for those entities,’ Schectman said.

‘The basket of gold and the basket of currencies will be minted in the member countries … it will be put into an escrow account, taken off the ledger so to speak — off of their balance sheet and put onto the mBridge ledger, and held in an escrow account in their own borders. It doesn’t need to be sent to a central authority.’

Investor takeaway

While it is not certain whether the creation of a BRICS reserve currency will come to pass, its emergence would pose significant implications for the global economy and potentially challenge the US dollar’s dominance as the primary reserve currency. This development would present unique investment opportunities, while introducing risks to existing investments as the shifting landscape alters monetary policy and exacerbates geopolitical tensions.

For those reasons, investors should closely monitor the progress of a possible BRICS currency. And, if the bloc does eventually create one, it will be important watch the currency’s impact on BRICS member economies and the broader global market. Staying vigilant will help investors to capitalize on growth prospects and hedge against potential risks.

FAQs for a new BRICS currency