In this article, we will be analyzing the global refined petroleum industry while covering the 15 largest exporters of refined petroleum. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Largest Exporters of Refined Petroleum.
Crude oil which we know as petroleum is a yellowish-black mixture that appears under sedimentary rocks through the decomposition of organic matter. This petroleum can be classified into two types. The first type is unrefined crude oil and the other type is refined petroleum, which is going to be the focus of this article. Refined petroleum refers to all the petroleum products which are obtained by processing unrefined crude oil.
Refined Petroleum Industry
As stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “refined petroleum products are derived from crude oils through processes such as catalytic cracking and fractional distillation”. Thus, refined petroleum refers to all those products which undergo processing in refineries, hence called ‘petroleum products’. Examples of some known petroleum products include the natural gas used in vehicles, diesel which powers trucks and buses, jet fuel which is used for airplanes as well as many other petrochemicals which are then used to make fertilizers and pesticides for agriculture.
In March 2022, Fortune Business Insights reported that the global refined petroleum market was valued at $586.27 billion in 2021. The market is expected to grow to $863.19 billion by 2028 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.0% over the forecast period.
Region wise, the Asia Pacific region dominates the market. Petroleum refineries in Asian countries like India and China have been operating at high utilization to fulfill local needs. A significant portion of Asia uses oil for electricity supply. As the countries in this region are developing, they have many commercial and infrastructure requirements that require refined petroleum. Another reason for the high demand is that the increase in disposable income implies more middle and lower middle class buying vehicles hence adding to the gas or diesel requirements.
Europe is the second highest-growing region in the refined petroleum products market. This region imports the majority of refined petroleum products. On March 23, Eurostat reported an overview of the refined petroleum market in Europe according to which this region depended on 91.67% of imports of petroleum products in 2021. The production and refining of oil are also less in the area, with more reliance on foreign countries to fulfill the oil demand.
North America is also one of the notable regions in the refined petroleum products market. On October 8, 2022, the US Energy Information Administration reported that there were 130 oil refining facilities in the US while the highest petroleum refining was done in Texas, producing 5.94 million barrels per day as of January 2022.
Major Players
Some of the biggest market players in the oil and gas industry that are involved in oil refining include Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), BP plc (NYSE:BP), and Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL).
Headquartered in Houston, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is an oil and gas company that operates around the world. On August 21, Reuters reported that the company has been investing in the oil and gas market by committing to launch its sixth offshore plant in Guyana which is enriched with oil resources. Timelines for drilling and setting up the components have also been set by the company, ensuring the completion of this project by 2027. The company conducted the largest oil refinery expansion in the US at their Beaumont refinery which now has a refining capacity of 630,000 barrels per day. This refinery processes Permian crude oil, converting it into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Another known name in the global oil market is BP plc (NYSE:BP). It is a vertically integrated company that engages in different areas such as oil extraction, refining, and distribution. On August 26, Reuters reported that the company aims to achieve energy transition by investing 40% of its capital in projects related to energy transition. This has been backed up by the CEO, Bernard Looney, who is adamant that the volatility in oil prices can be avoided by shifting from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. The company trades crude oil and other distillates such as kerosene, diesel, LPG, naphtha, and gas oil to different parts of the world.
Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) also holds a strong position in the global oil market. On August 24, Reuters reported that the company is currently considering selling its Singapore refinery since it wants to reposition itself by reducing its carbon emissions. In this regard, the company has been negotiating with potential buyers who are interested in the strategically located refinery. Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) operates 22 refineries around the world. These refineries have the capacity to process almost 2.9 million barrels of crude oil into refined products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, lubricants, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), sulfur, and bitumen. Europe and Africa hold 35% of the company's refining capacity. The US has 42% of it while 23% is in Asia and Oceania.
Notable Oil Refineries
The industrial process of converting crude oil into petroleum products is carried out in oil refineries. The largest oil refineries in the world include Jamnagar Refinery, Paraguana Refinery Complex, and SK Energy Ulsan Refinery.
Jamnagar Refinery, owned by Reliance Industries, is known to be one of the largest oil refineries in the world, is located in India. It has a refining capacity of 1.24 million barrels per stream day. It produces a range of petroleum products which include LPG, propylene, naphtha, aviation turbine fuel, high-speed diesel, and gasoline.
Located in Venezuela is the world’s second-largest oil refinery, the Paraguana Refinery Complex, owned by Petróleos de Venezuela. On August 23, the MercoPress reported that the refinery recently delayed its operations due to the damage caused by a prior 4-day fire. However, management was confident that they had enough inventory to fulfill local and foreign demand, even with their processing shut down for a few days.
SK Energy Ulsan Refinery, a subsidiary of SK Innovation Co., Ltd. (KRX: 096770), is also one of the world’s biggest refineries. It was the first oil company to operate in Korea.
Imports of Refined Petroleum
The most significant importers of petroleum products obtained from oil refining include China, the United States, and Singapore.
One of the most significant refined petroleum importers in the world is China. The country also allocates import quotas to several state-owned and small, local refineries. Most of the refined petroleum is imported from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. On August 15, Reuters reported that China’s imports of petroleum products have recently reduced since the country’s refineries have increased their throughput by 1.4% from last year, in order to meet the local demand. This demand came from the fuel requirements during the summer travel season. The country has also increased its own crude oil production.
The United States is also one of the major importers of refined petroleum in the world. Earlier, the US imported a major portion from Russia. However, after the ban on Russian imports by the US president, imports have been coming from countries including Mexico, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Iraq. The US Energy Information Administration reported that the country imported 8.32 million barrels per day of petroleum from 80 different countries in 2022.
Another leading importer of refined petroleum is Singapore. It imports petroleum products from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Myanmar. On August 10, Reuters reported that the gas and kerosene imports for Singapore increased in the month of July. 40,915 metric tons of gasoline from Korea and 32,272 metric tons of kerosene from China were imported.
Implications of the Russia-Ukraine War
The Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022. Before this, the European Union relied heavily on imports of oil from Russia. Recently, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia has decided to sell oil to overseas buyers through low-profile traders who have less public record, and hence the Western powers who have imposed sanctions on its exports cannot trace this trade. These silent traders own fleets of old oil tankers that are not insured commercially just to enable Russia’s oil supply to various countries around the world.
On August 18, The Wall Street Journal reported that one such evidence of the violation of Western sanctions is the ghost fleet ‘Beks Ship Management’ in Turkey. Emerging from a Turkish garment supplier business, this company has expanded its trade with Russia by acquiring more vessels after the war. It is the fourth largest shipowner trading for Russia. Events like Beks' bulk carrier catching fire on Russia's Pacific coast question the safety of these ships. The company has also been violating the price caps set by the West by loading petroleum at Russia's Kozmino port at a higher price, against an official warning. The United States has been working on how to better regulate sanctions across such countries. However, major Middle Eastern economies such as China and India have been buying Russian oil in massive amounts since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The incentive for these nations is the discounted oil prices from Russia. In order to combat these incentives, the G7 has also proposed a price cap for Russian exports under which the Russian vessels, more than half of which are owned by EU companies, would not be able to get insurance if they sell oil above this price cap. Despite all the restrictions, Russia has been doing high monthly average oil sales through trade with non-sanctioned countries.
The Opening of New Refineries
Since the refined petroleum industry provides many essentials such as diesel, gasoline, and LPG, it fuels the automotive industry. Due to the rapidly growing automotive market, the refined petroleum industry is also bound to grow. Apart from the fuel demand, refined petroleum products are also used in the process of making fertilizers, pesticides, polyesters, and plastic, all of them collectively categorized as petrochemicals. Rising population and urbanization further increase the demand for refined petroleum around the world.
In order to strike a balance between the demand and supply of refined petroleum, countries have been focusing on expanding their refining capacities. In May 2023, BBC reported that Africa’s biggest oil refinery named Dangote Refinery was launched in Nigeria. This refinery has a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The goal of the Dangote Refinery is to fulfill the local refined petroleum demand without having to import large quantities of it. Another such example is of Kuwait. On August 25, MSN reported that the country aims to achieve the target of 1.4 million barrels per day by 2024. The strategy opted by Kuwait is increasing the refining capacity to produce more refined oil which could be exported to Europe rather than depending on simple crude oil exports. This can also reduce the country’s exposure to price volatility in the global oil market while fulfilling the refined petroleum demand of a larger European market.
Now that we have taken a look at the refined petroleum industry and some of the popular names, we can examine the 15 largest exporters of refined petroleum.
In order to generate a list of the 15 largest exporters of refined petroleum, we considered that refined petroleum refers to all those products which have undergone processing in refineries, hence becoming ‘petroleum products’. We sourced data for these petroleum products from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC). From the Oil Trade statistics, we derived all the countries involved in the export of petroleum products. Thus, we used the amount of exported petroleum products to gauge the rankings for the respective countries. The metric used was barrels per day of exported petroleum products for each country, as of 2022. Finally, we ranked the countries in ascending order of their petroleum products exports, expressed in barrels per day:
15 Largest Exporters of Refined Petroleum
15. Japan
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 510.1
Japan is one of the largest exporters of refined petroleum in the world. Refined petroleum is one of the top exports of the country. As of 2022, Japan exported 510.1 thousand barrels of processed petroleum products per day.
14. Belgium
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 513.4
Being centrally positioned in Europe, Belgium has a well-developed infrastructure and oil storage capacity to export refined petroleum. As of 2022, Belgium exported 513.4 thousand barrels per day, making it one of the top countries to export petroleum products.
13. Italy
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 525.6
Italy is one of the world’s highest refined petroleum exporters. The country has a large refining industry. Italy exported 525.6 thousand barrels per day of processed petroleum products in 2022.
Companies that take up a significant share in the refined petroleum market include Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), BP plc (NYSE:BP), and Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL).
12. Germany
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 562.3
Another big name in refined petroleum exports is Germany. Although the country exports oil, it incurs a deficit in the trade of refined petroleum products since its imports of crude oil exceed its exports of refined petroleum. As of 2022, the country exported 562.3 thousand barrels of refined petroleum per day.
11. Kuwait
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 711
Almost half of Kuwait’s GDP comes from its oil reserves. The country is a major exporter of refined petroleum to Japan, India, and South Korea. As of 2022, Kuwait exported 711 thousand barrels per day of refined petroleum products.
10. United Arab Emirates
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 902.9
Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, is known to have UAE’s largest oil reserves and one of the world’s largest oil fields, Zakum. Therefore, the country secures a lot of profit from its oil and petroleum product exports. Being one of the significant suppliers of refined petroleum to the world, UAE exported 902.9 thousand barrels per day of refined petroleum as of 2022.
Investors who wish to increase their exposure to the oil refining market can look up Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), BP plc (NYSE:BP), and Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL).
9. Malaysia
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 938.3
Malaysia serves to be the ninth largest exporter of refined petroleum in the world. This refined petroleum is exported to countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. It supplied a total of 938.3 thousand barrels per day of petroleum products as of 2022.
8. China
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 1,147.5
Another top exporter of refined petroleum is China. Hongkong, Singapore, and the Philippines are some of the top export destinations for China’s refined petroleum industry. China exported 1.14 million barrels per day of refined petroleum as of 2022.
7. India
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 1,312.1
The exports of refined petroleum in the form of mineral fuels, bituminous, and mineral waxes have risen for India during 2022, with the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands as the top destinations for export. The country exported 1.31 million barrels per day of refined petroleum, making it one of the largest refined petroleum exporters in the world.
6. South Korea
Exports in Thousand Barrels Per Day: 1,345.70
Korea has one of the world’s largest oil refining capacities of 3.5 million barrels per day. One of the world’s largest oil refineries, SK Energy Ulsan Refinery, is located in South Korea. Hence, South Korea exports refined petroleum products to destinations like China, Australia, and Singapore. As of 2022, South Korea exported 1.34 million barrels per day.
