Korea’s oil consumption per capita added up to 18.3 barrels last year, to rank fifth in the world. During the same period, Korea ranked sixth in oil refining capacity.
According to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy released on July 15, the daily average of the international oil consumption increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in 2014 to reach 92.09 million barrels.
The United States’ and China’s daily averages amounted to 19.04 million barrels and 11.06 million barrels, respectively. Korea ranked eighth with a daily average of 2.46 million barrels.
When it comes to the amount of consumption per capita based on the population estimated in July, Singapore took the top spot by recording 83.5 barrels. It was followed by Saudi Arabia (42.5 barrels), Canada (24.8 barrels), the United States (21.8 barrels), and Korea (18.3 barrels).
It is thought that the best part of the petroleum consumed in Korea was for industrial purposes. The high consumption per capita is attributable to its industrial structure in which petroleum products are exported based on the import of crude oil. The high level of consumption is also because of its particularly high dependence on oil as an energy source.