Global oil & gas transportation industry - statistics & facts

Oil and gas are among the most important commodities within the energy and chemical industry and are therefore heavily traded goods. However, as consumer markets are not always overlapping with producing regions, transportation, especially across continents and seas, plays a huge role in shaping the global oil and gas market. The two most common modes of moving crude oil, oil products, and natural gas is via tanker ships and pipelines. In 2021, the global volume of crude oil in seaborne trade reached 1.8 billion metric tons.

Oil & gas trade market overview

Although pipelines are often considered the safest and most efficient means of transporting oil and gas products, their construction is a huge undertaking and has not been without controversy. Where distances are too great or where political and topographical issues make pipelines non-viable, oil tankers and LNG vessels are used to transport the respective products. Trading of natural gas in liquefied form is particularly important for gas-producing countries such as Qatar and Australia, which are far removed from big consumer markets and almost exclusively reliant on maritime shipping for foreign trading. Meanwhile, major LNG importing countries are largely concentrated in East Asia. However, the recent gas supply issues following the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to make LNG a more popular choice in Europe as well.

Seaborne trade

The global capacity of oil tankers has more than doubled since the early 2000s. Oil tankers ship either crude oil or already refined oil products and come in different size classes of up to 550,000 deadweight tonnes. As for global LNG tanker capacities, the combined operational capacity stood at 103 million cubic meters in 2021. Greater natural gas demand for power generation, heating, and cooling has pushed the annual global LNG trade volume to over 500 billion cubic meters.

Pipeline trade

Most of the world’s natural gas pipeline capacity is stationed in North America, with the United States having a gas pipeline network roughly three times the size of Russia’s. However, Russian state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom is the leading gas pipeline developer worldwide, and is in the process of extending its already existing pipeline network by more than 14,000 kilometers.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Jessica Aizarani, Aug 31, 2023

Key insights

Leading oil importing country
China
Leading LNG importing country
Japan
Number of operating natural gas pipelines worldwide
1,869
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of liquefied natural gas storage vessels worldwide from 2010 to 2021*

Natural Gas

Global fleet of LNG tankers 2010-2021

Transport volume of crude oil in seaborne trade worldwide from 2010 to 2021 (in million metric tons)

Water Transport

Global seaborne trade volume of crude oil 2010-2021

Leading crude oil importers worldwide in 2022 (in 1,000 barrels per day)

Prices, Marketing, and Trade

Largest global crude oil importers 2022

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Overview

2

Overview

Trade market

5

Trade market

Seaborne transportation

7

Seaborne transportation

Pipeline transportation

7

Pipeline transportation

Developers

2

Developers

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