At the time, the U.S. produced 60 percent of the world's crude oil while our primary foe, Nazi Germany, had limited domestic oil production. U.S. oil supplies, however, were far from the battlefield and had to be shipped over thousands of kilometers of ocean to Europe.
The US is by far and away the world's largest oil producer (over 180 million MT in 1940), followed by the Venezuela and the Soviet Union (30 and 27 million MT respectively).
Soviet oil production recovered rapidly in the 1920s, and by 1939 the Soviet Union was the second-largest oil producer in the world, far behind the United States and slightly ahead of Venezuela.
More than 92 percent of Germany's aviation gasoline and half its total petroleum during World War II had come from synthetic fuel plants. At its peak in early 1944, the German synfuels effort produced more than 124,000 barrels per day from 25 plants.
It imported oil from the Soviet Union until the German invasion of that country in June 1941 and from Hungary and Romania (25 percent of its annual requirements by 1944) after April 1941 when these two countries became German allies prior to the Soviet invasion.
Although oil imports from the Middle East had stopped and most oil for Britain came from the United States, no shortage of oil existed at the time; supplies originally intended for Europe were filling British storage facilities and full tankers were kept waiting in American ports.
Approximately 80% of the world's oil reserves are in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Thus recognizing the key importance of oil, Hitler's war strategy known as the “blitzkrieg” (i.e. “lightning war”) had to be fierce but short leading to a quick decisive victory before Germany ran out of petroleum.
Big Oil previously referred to seven oil companies which formed the Consortium for Iran; such "Seven Sisters" were the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (a predecessor of BP), Shell plc, three of Chevron's predecessors (Standard Oil of California, Gulf Oil and Texaco), and two of ExxonMobil's predecessors (Jersey Standard and ...
Thanks to the shale oil boom, the US is now sitting on more oil reserves than Russia, which estimates as having 256 billion barrels of untapped oil. The next-richest countries in terms of oil after that are: Saud Arabia (212 billion), Canada (167 billion), Iran (143 billion) and Brazil (120 billion).
Without imports of steel and oil, the Japanese military could not fight for long. Without oil, the navy would not be able to move after it had exhausted its six-month reserve. Roosevelt hoped that this economic pressure would force Japan to end its military expansion in East Asia.
The Soviet Union was the major power that produced the highest number of tanks and self-propelled guns during the Second World War. While tanks had been deployed for the first time ever in combat during the First World War, their role in the Second World War was integral to success on the battlefield.
Where did Japanese fuel come from during World War II? There were enormous coal stocks available in Manchuria, and some oil on Sakhalin Island. Before 1941, a bulk of Japans's petroleum came from the US and the Dutch East Indies. After 1942, the predominance of Japanese petroleum came from the Dutch East Indies.
3,500 tonnes of Russian crude oil were imported to Germany in January 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In January 2022, the import volume had been 2.8 million tonnes. Crude oil imports from Russia were thus stopped almost completely, going down by 99.9% in arithmetical terms.
A fair estimate is that the Nazis acquired, in addition to the Western Polish oil fields (which produce about 150,000 tons of crude oil annually, yielding 15 to 20 per cent high-grade lubricants), 350,000 tons from Eastern Poland after the Russian invasion; 75,000 tons from Alsatia; 150,000 tons from Hungary; 250,000- ...
The German subsidiary of Russian oil giant Rosneft was placed under trusteeship, giving Germany's federal regulator control of a key source of fuel for Berlin.
By the late 1880s, Standard Oil controlled 90% of American refineries.
World Oil Reserves
The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history.
Suzuki ordered a survey of Japan's fighting ability to determine if they were sufficient to carry on the war, and the report issued in mid-June 1945 indicated that while fuel oil in April 1937 was 29.6 million barrels, by July 1, 1945, it would be just 0.8 million barrels, and for all practical purposes, Japan was out ...
Bottom line, no likely masterstroke -- no single stratagem or killing blow -- would have defeated the United States. Rather, Japanese commanders should have thought and acted less tactically and more strategically. In so doing they would have improved Japan's chances.
Now, it cannot be stated too forcefully, American oil, which amounted in all to 6 billion barrels, out of a total of 7 billion barrels consumed by the Allies for the period of World War Two, brought victory! Without the prodigious delivery of oil from the U. S. this global war, quite frankly, could never have been won.