This week’s oil prices put the industry at a value of $1.7 trillion – almost three times larger than the $660 billion in revenues generated from all major raw metals and minerals combined. Figures compiled by the Visual Capitalist show that the sheer magnitude of international oil consumption will increase as countries leave coal behind and plan for the spread of natural gas and green energy. For the sake of comparison, gold, the largest raw metal market by dollar value, stands at one-tenth the size of Big Oil. Iron, the second most popular mined and traded metal, generates $115 billion in revenues for companies and governments. (Click to enlarge) Oil producers extract 34 billion barrels of oil from the planet every year to provide the 94 million bpd the planet consumes to travel, build and illuminate. The ascent of oil as the most-valuable commodity on Earth […]