Photo: Collected
Amid the ongoing unrest in the Middle East and the global energy crisis, Africa is steadily gaining importance as an alternative source of crude oil. Despite huge oil production, the continent has long been import-dependent for refined fuel, but that picture has now begun to change. Although there are challenges such as infrastructure security and political instability, Africa has retained its position as a major oil-exporting region in the world market.
About 10 percent of the world’s total crude oil production comes from this continent, where about 10 million barrels are extracted daily. Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Angola are playing a special role in this regard.
According to data, an average of 1.5 to 1.6 million barrels of crude oil was produced daily in Nigeria in 2025. With this, the country has retained its position as Africa’s top oil producer and exporter. More than 55 percent of the African crude oil exported to the United States came from Nigeria.
Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa – about 48.4 billion barrels. In 2025, the country produced and exported about 1.2 million to 1.39 million barrels of oil per day.
Next in production is Algeria, whose daily crude oil production is about 1.14 million barrels. Angola, on the other hand, has consistently been producing and exporting more than 1 million barrels of oil per day.
However, despite huge crude oil production and exports, Africa has long been dependent on imports for refined fuel. In particular, various countries of the continent have had to look to imports to meet the demand for petrol and diesel. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of adequate refining capacity at the local level. Recently, though, there are signs of a change in this situation.
In Nigeria, the Dangote refinery, with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, has become fully operational. As large infrastructure of this kind comes into operation, Africa’s dependence on imports of refined fuel may gradually decline.
Meanwhile, the United States was the world’s largest oil-exporting country in 2025. According to OPEC’s Annual Statistical Bulletin 2026, the country exported 10.7 million barrels of oil per day. The daily exports of Saudi Arabia, in second place, were 7.9 million barrels. Together the two countries supplied about one-fourth of the world’s total oil exports.
Source: Visual Capitalist dot com
