Oil Reserves and Consumption: The Mismatch

This nice graphic first appeared in Energy Bulletin, via William Tamblyn. In the graph, the size of each country reflects the relative size of its oil reserves. It is based on the same data (though from 2004) as the preceding chart from BP, though is more useful in giving the country-by-country breakdown. The colors in the above chart reflect different levels of oil consumption per country (not, as is sometimes done, per capita oil consumption). Click the graph for enlargement and to see the consumption per country key on the lower left.

Tamblyn's map above is a clever way of rendering the production-consumption disparity, though a simple pie chart comparison showing the consumers, as in the pie chart to the right, is also revealing. This "Production and Consumption" graph is from the folks at oilposter.org (whose renowned poster projecting peak oil is available free to educators and at modest cost to individuals).

11/01/08