With U.S. production of oil and gas setting all-time records—at both a country and state level— providing some scale for statewide production can bring new perspective to the size of the shale boom.
To make the measurement, EnerCom Analytics identified countries around the globe that are producing oil and gas in similar volumes to the U.S. energy producing states, matching the closest country production to the closest corresponding U.S. state’s production.
Texas is in a league of its own
Everyone that follows the energy industry knows that Texas is just simply the Godzilla of U.S. oil and gas extraction. But where does the state stack up on a global scale?
Here it is.
Only five countries produce more oil than Texas: Russia, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Iraq and Iran. And only two countries—Russia and the U.S.—produce more gas.
Texas produces roughly equal volumes of oil as Canada, and similar volumes of gas to Iran. In fact, Texas produces more oil than most OPEC members, with only three of the group’s member states producing greater volumes.
Pennsylvania is the Qatar of U.S. NatGas
Pennsylvania would also rank highly on a global scale, behind only Russia, the U.S., Iran, Canada and Qatar in natural gas production. The state ranks pretty low in oil production, with output comparable to the Netherlands.
The Gulf of Mexico is also included in the comparison, as offshore production in the GOM makes it the second-largest oil producing region in the U.S.
State | Comparable Oil Producer | Comparable Gas Producer |
Texas | Canada | Iran |
GOM | Angola | Brazil |
North Dakota | Algeria | Ukraine |
New Mexico | Malaysia | Mexico |
Oklahoma | Ecuador | Malaysia |
Alaska | Ecuador | Algeria |
California | Argentina | Italy |
Colorado | Congo | Uzbekistan |
Wyoming | Thailand | Egypt |
Louisiana | Chad | Malaysia |
Utah | Sudan | Vietnam |
Kansas | Brunei | Germany |
Ohio | Turkmenistan | Ivory Coast |
Montana | Papua New Guinea | Yemen |
Mississippi | Turkey | – |
West Virginia | Ukraine | Egypt |
Illinois | Albania | – |
Pennsylvania | Netherlands | Qatar |
Alabama | Suriname | – |
Offshore West Coast | France | – |
Michigan | Syria | – |
Arkansas | Yemen | Bolivia |
Kentucky | Burma (Myanmar) | – |