Types of bitumen
Roughly speaking, different types of bitumen prices and even qualities
differ due to global situations and daily events in superpower countries. Generally, the oil industry is one of the most important and key industries
in the world, whose developments are under observation with great care. We can consider this industry as one industry whose price fluctuation range is very high. In addition, market developments, political and geopolitical issues also affect it. However, recent studies have shown that non-market factors play a
minor role in the major price changes in the oil market,
and this volatile market, like all other markets,
is under the effect of changes in supply and demand.
The oil industry and types of bitumen
We can consider factors influencing supply OPEC decisions on oil production
or supply changes in non-OPEC producing countries such as Russia
and the United States. As you may know, OPEC controls one-third of
the oil market, and the decisions of this large oil cartel could have a
major impact on the market. Factors influencing the demand side can also
be a dependence of economic activities on oil and petroleum products,
the value of the US dollar and ultimately the performance of the world economy. For example, during the boom years, when economic and industrial activity
in the world is very large, the oil demand is high, and vice versa,
during the recession, the demand for oil as an energy source is low.
In recent months, as the corona epidemic engulfed the world,
oil prices fell for a sharp drop in market demand. As a result,
several oil-rich countries, including OPEC members, have cut production to
keep the supply in line with demand. Nevertheless, the important point is that
the major oil-exporting countries in OPEC are not all among the world’s
largest producers, and without the support of these non-OPEC producers,
it is not possible to influence the oil market.
types of bitumen
Needless to mention that the International Energy Agency recently
released a report on the world’s largest oil producers, announcing their
share of total production in the market. According to the report, ten
countries account for 71% of the world’s oil supply and produce over
100 million barrels of oil per day. In this report, we introduced the
largest oil producers based on the information available at the end of June
2020 and to announce the share of each of these countries in the
total oil production in the world.
First: America & types of bitumen
The United States is the largest oil producer in the world and
has held this position since 2017. The United States is the world’s largest
shale oil producer and has invested heavily in this position. It is interesting to know that a decade ago,
this country was the largest importer of oil in the world and
now it is among the largest exporters, and that is why it is trying to change
its trade, economic interactions and to have a large influence
on the types of bitumen market.
types of bitumen
Worth mentioning, that they currently produce oil in 32 US states,
but production is higher in Texas than in any other state. Statistics
provided by the International Energy Agency show that 41% of the oil
produced in the United States is in the state of Texas, which is why this state
is so important to the American economy. On the other hand, the United States is one of the most industrialized economies in the world
and the largest consumer of oil. In 2019, the United States consumed 7.47 million barrels of oil per day,
which is less than half of its production capacity. The United States is one of the largest oil exporters this year,
and given the Trump administration’s investments in the oil industry,
US export power is to grow further.
The question may arise how the United States could bring about this major
shift in its oil production capacity from an importer to an exporter. Studies
have shown that the major reason for the US pioneering use of alternative methods of oil drilling. Petroleum grains can now be horizontal,
resulting in the highest efficiency in the drilling process and a significant
increase in shale oil production capacity. Between 2018 and 2019, the years
in which they used the new technology in the United States,
the country’s oil production capacity grew by 9 percent,
and they expect that this year the country’s oil production capacity will
exceed 12 percent. Specifically, the US share of total world oil production
at the end of June was 19%.
Second: Saudi Arabia & types of bitumen
In fact, the second-largest oil producer in the world is Saudi Arabia,
which produces 11.81 million barrels of oil per day. Before the United States became an oil superpower in the world,
Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest oil producer and held the position
for over a decade. The Asian country is the sixth-largest consumer of oil in
the world and consumes an average of 3.78 million barrels of oil per day. Saudi Arabia was among the countries that strongly emphasized the policy
of reducing production during the Corona epidemic. Of course, before that,
OPEC had implemented a policy of reducing production to affect prices. In 2019, for example, Saudi Arabia’s average oil production per day was
609,000 barrels per day lower than in 2018,
and this year it reduced its production by 3.3 million barrels per day to
prevent prices from falling in the world types of bitumen market.
Although OPEC’s policy of reducing production had a major impact on
preventing oil prices from falling on the world market, it cost the Saudi
economy dearly. The economy of this country highly depends on
oil revenues, and the country’s budget cannot meet the current needs of
the country without receiving the desired export revenue and, of course,
selling at a reasonable price. However, this year, both prices fell and
production fell, both of which put a lot of pressure on the Saudi economy,
but officials said the country’s foreign exchange reserves were enough
to cover current expenses.