REDUCING THE USAGE OF CRUDE OIL — WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM HIGHEST CRUDE CONSUMER COUNTRIES?

The production and consumption of crude oil became a major issue with the sharp increase in crude oil prices that took place during the last few months. We investigate the relationship between crude oil consumption and the GDP of the top crude oil consuming countries. The amount of GDP produced per barrel of crude oil varies significantly between different countries; the ratio is in the range of 2% to 10% of the GDP when the price of a barrel of crude oil is $100. The paper attempts to explain the high variability with the aim of learning from high GDP producers as to how they are able to generate a larger GDP per barrel of crude oil consumption. The paper also identifies a hysteresis effect in crude consumption reduction and illustrates how understanding it can lead to better production and conservation policies.