Petroleum Refinery In 2015, the U.S. was the largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in the world by a wide margin, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. While that sounds great, the reality is a bit different, and Russia and Saudi Arabia are having the last laugh. Holding the clunky title of ‘World’s Largest Producer of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hydrocarbons’ is an honor on some level, but if you dig a bit further below the surface and unravel the creative mathematics, the details of this story become a bit less impressive. And even less so when we consider that U.S. production of crude oil—the crème de la crème of petroleum products—is falling, and both Russia and Saudi Arabia produce more in this battle for supremacy. When it comes to total petroleum production, the U.S. is trailed by Russia and then Saudi Arabia, as shown […]