Oil Production

Data, Graphs, and Maps

Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences, Economics, Mathematics

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Our World in Data

Open Resource

What it is

This interactive line chart, map, and table from Our World In Data provide students the opportunity to analyze oil production in Terawatt-hours (TWh) for various countries.
Students can:
- Hover over the line chart of data to get more detailed information.
- Select the countries to include in the chart from a provided list.
- Download the data as a CSV file to do further calculations.
- Download the graph as an image file (PNG) or vector file (SVG).

Teaching tips

Positives

The different visualizations help students with different needs and preferences understand the content.
Students can easily interact with the user-friendly interface.

Prerequisites

Students should understand that oil is a fossil fuel and a nonrenewable resource.

Differentiation & Implementation

Students can discuss how burning fossil fuels like oil contributes to climate change. Students can also talk about how globalization and the exporting of oil have a role in climate change.
Students can discuss how oil is extracted and what that means for the environment, including impacts on people living near extraction sites.
Students can also look at oil spills like the Orange County oil spill to discuss the environmental implications. The article Orange County Oil Spill: Drilling is Killing can help facilitate this point.

From the scientist review

Oil production is a major activity in the USA. Thus, in the chart, USA data showed a peak in 1965 and also a steady rise from 2010-2015 up until 2019. Students can visualize this to understand the rate of oil production for energy in different countries applicable to this resource.

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At a glance

Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Economics, Mathematics
Other types: Interactive Media
Format: Microsoft Excel
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: Our World in Data
Authors: Our World in Data
Published: July 20, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · MS-ESS3-4. + 11 more

Core

Core Standards legacy

MS-ESS3-4.MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
D2.Eco.6.6-8D2.Eco.6.6-8 Explain how changes in supply and demand cause changes in prices and quantities of goods and services, labor, credit, and foreign currencies.
D2.Geo.4.6-8D2.Geo.4.6-8 Explain how cultural patterns and economic decisions influence environments and the daily lives of people in both nearby and distant places.
D2.Eco.10.9-12D2.Eco.10.9-12 Use current data to explain the influence of changes in spending, production, and the money supply on various economic conditions.
D2.Geo.1.9-12D2.Geo.1.9-12 Use geospatial and related technologies to create maps to display and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics.
D2.Geo.9.9-12D2.Geo.9.9-12 Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.B.6CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.B.6 Evaluate reports based on data.

Connecticut Climate Education Hub

Connecticut Climate Education Hub Standards legacy

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.B.6CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSS.IC.B.6 Evaluate reports based on data.
6.Geo.4.a.6.Geo.4.a. Explain how cultural patterns influence the environment and daily life within and among regions (e.g., pollution of the Ganges River, Croatian access to Adriatic Seacoast, Main-Danube waterway, Chinese New Year, Hajj).
7.Eco.6.a.7.Eco.6.a. Explain how changes in supply and demand have influenced the price and quantity of a good or service in a region (e.g., gold inflation related to Mansa Musa’s Hajj, Dutch fur trade in North America, Rainforest logging, Cobalt mining in Democratic Republic of the Congo, global agriculture, Venezuela oil production, illegal poaching).
MW.Geo.9.a.MW.Geo.9.a. Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on contemporary human migration, settlement patterns, resource use, and land use at local-to-global scales (e.g., heat waves, desertification, loss of biodiversity, fish migration, irrigation, wildfires).
MS-ESS3-4.MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

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What it is

Teaching tips

From the scientist review

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