Russia becomes leading oil producer, BP says

Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become the world's leading oil producer in 2009, while global oil consumption fell the most since 1982, BP has said.

According to the oil giant's latest Statistical Review of World Energy, Russia increased oil production by 1.5% in 2009, claiming a 12.9% market share.

Production in Saudi Arabia fell 10.6%, giving the country a 12% market share.

Global oil consumption fell by 1.2m barrels a day, or 1.7%, while natural gas use dropped 2.1%.

The world's oil production dropped by 2m barrels a day, or 2.6%, also the largest decline since 1982.

BP also said that "global gas production declined for the first time on record", falling 2.1%.

"Production fell sharply in Russia (-12.1%) and Turkmenistan (-44.8%), driven by declining consumption - in Russia and much of the rest of Europe - and the availability in Europe of competitively priced liquefied natural gas," the report states.

The US became the world's largest gas producer, surpassing Russia, thanks to "continued expansion of unconventional supplies".

Global proven oil reserves increased by 700m barrels to 1.33 trillion barrels last year.

At the same time, the world's gas reserves grew by 2.21 trillion cubic meters to 187.49 trillion cubic meters.