The United States currently uses on the order of 19–20 million barrels of oil per day , based on the latest available data (2023).

Current daily oil use

  • In 2023, U.S. petroleum and petroleum products consumption was reported at about 20.2 million barrels per day.
  • Another data series places U.S. daily oil consumption at nearly 19 million barrels per day for 2023, which is the same ballpark and reflects differences in definitions and rounding.
  • Putting that in everyday terms, that is roughly one-fifth of total global oil use each day, even though the U.S. has less than 5% of the world’s population.

What “oil use” includes

When people ask “how much oil does the US use per day,” the numbers above generally include:

  • Motor fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel used in transportation.
  • Other petroleum products such as heating oil, liquefied petroleum gases, and feedstocks for making plastics and chemicals.

These products are consumed across transportation, industry, residential and commercial heating, and electric power in smaller amounts.

Why the numbers vary slightly

Different reputable sources give slightly different daily figures because:

  • Some track “petroleum and petroleum products” broadly, while others focus on “crude oil and liquids.”
  • Data may be preliminary estimates for the most recent year and later get revised as more information comes in.
  • Rounding millions of barrels per day to one decimal place can shift the number by a few hundred thousand barrels.

For most practical uses, saying the U.S. uses around 20 million barrels of oil per day is a good, up‑to‑date approximation.

TL;DR: The best current estimate for how much oil the US uses per day is about 19–20 million barrels every single day.