Tapis, a type of crude found only in Malaysia, is considered the best quality oil in the world. Light and sweet, it's benchmark traded in Singapore and coveted for its remarkably low sulphur content (0.04 percent) and low density of between 43 and 45° API.
The best crude oil in the world is found in Malaysia. “Tapis, the Malaysian crude benchmark traded in Singapore, has for a long time held the title of the world's most expensive grade.
Texas Eagle Ford Volatile Oil Zone is one of the cleanest in the world, producing just 458 kg of CO2 equivalent per barrel.
Approximately 80% of the world's oil reserves are in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By the late 1880s, Standard Oil controlled 90% of American refineries.
Venezuela has the largest amount of oil reserves in the world with more than 300 billion barrels in reserve.
Australia offers none of the capital or operating cost benefits available in many developing countries. Compared to refineries across Asia, Australian refineries suffer from substantial disadvantages in operating and capital costs that preclude Australia from consideration for major new refinery projects.
Australian refineries
Australia currently has four fuel refineries that commenced operation between 1949 and 1965 (see Table 1).
Showing 5 out of 5 companies. Woodside Energy Group Ltd, Santos Ltd, BHP, Origin Energy Ltd, and Beach Energy Ltd are the top 5 oil & gas companies by reserves in 2021.
The International Fuel Quality Center (IFQC) has ranked the top 100 countries based on sulfur limits in gasoline; Germany was found to be at the top of the ranking with the lowest sulfur limits. Following in second and third were Japan and Sweden, respectively.
The United States is by far the world's biggest producer of oil, having produced around 16.6 million barrels of oil on average per day in 2021. Saudi Arabia and Russia follow head to head in second and third place, having produced around 11 and 10.9 million barrels of oil per day, respectively.
Saudi Aramco is the world's largest integrated oil and gas company and its stock is not traded in the United States.
The Far East/Oceania: Australia. Brunei. China.
Indeed, Australia is a hydrocarbon-rich nation. Consequently, both oil and gas have played a key role in satisfying the country's energy needs.
Australia is a net importer of oil and imports a large proportion of its refinery feedstocks. Most of Australia's oil is produced on the North West Shelf, some distance from domestic east coast refining capacity.
Australia has proven reserves equivalent to 2.9 times its annual consumption. This means that, without imports, there would be about 3 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
Australia relies on imports - about 90 per cent - for the majority of its petrol supply. We do produce some crude oil domestically - about 350 barrels per day - however, the majority of this is exported. Most of our imported petrol comes from Asia, with around 25 per cent of it coming from Singapore.
Australia is almost entirely reliant on overseas imports for its fuel. Although we do produce some crude oil here, around 350 barrels a day at last count, much of this is exported. Around 90% of what Australian refineries use to convert crude oil into petrol, diesel, LPG and other fuels is imported.
Australia has just two domestic oil refineries, Ampol's facility in Brisbane and Viva Energy's refinery in Brisbane.
The United States has the world's largest reported strategic petroleum reserve, with a total capacity of 727 million barrels. If completely filled, the U.S. SPR could theoretically replace about 60 days of oil imports.
The world's largest oil field, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar Field, for instance, produces around 4 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for well over 1/3 of Saudi Arabia's total production.
Political corruption, chronic shortages of food and medicine, closure of businesses, unemployment, deterioration of productivity, authoritarianism, human rights violations, gross economic mismanagement and high dependence on oil have also contributed to the worsening crisis.