The UK gets its oil mainly from Norway , the United States , and a group of key exporters such as Nigeria, Libya and Algeria , plus smaller volumes from many other countries (20+ in recent years).

Big picture: where the UK’s oil comes from

  • The UK still produces a significant amount of oil from the UK Continental Shelf (North Sea), but it is no longer self‑sufficient and relies heavily on imports.
  • In 2023, the UK imported oil from more than 20 countries, with Norway and the US as the main suppliers.
  • Norway is currently the single biggest supplier of crude oil and natural gas liquids to the UK.
  • The US has become a major supplier too, with around 14.6 million tonnes of crude oil exported to the UK in 2023.
  • African producers such as Nigeria, Libya and Algeria also rank among the top origin countries for UK oil imports.

Main supplier countries (recent years)

Here’s a simple view of the main recent suppliers of crude oil and oil products to the UK.

[1] [1] [5][1] [9][1]
Rank (recent) Main supplier country Role for the UK
1 Norway Largest supplier of crude oil and natural gas liquids to the UK.
2 United States Major exporter of crude oil to the UK; around 14.6 million tonnes in 2023.
3–5 Nigeria, Libya, Algeria Important additional suppliers of crude oil and oil products.
Other Various countries Smaller import volumes from many other states, giving the UK a diversified supply base.

Why the UK both imports and exports oil

It can sound odd, but the UK exports a lot of the oil it produces and imports different types back in.

  • North Sea oil is a particular “grade” of crude; UK refineries and foreign refineries are optimised for different grades, so oil is traded globally to match refinery needs.
  • The UK exports much of its own crude to refineries abroad, then imports other crude varieties or refined products (like petrol and diesel) that better fit domestic demand.
  • This pattern is normal in global oil markets, where logistics, refinery configuration and product mix matter as much as sheer volume.

Recent context (mid‑2020s)

  • UK crude oil imports have risen slightly in recent years, reaching about 843 thousand barrels per day in 2024.
  • Government energy statistics for 2025–26 show continued reliance on imports of “primary oil and petroleum products” from a broad mix of countries, with Norway and the US still prominent.
  • Policy debates in the UK now tend to focus on energy security (how dependent the UK is on foreign supplies) and the pace of transition away from fossil fuels, rather than just the raw volume of oil imports.

In forum discussions and news comment threads, people often phrase this as “we’ve got North Sea oil but still import from Norway and America,” which is broadly accurate: the UK is both a producer and a large importer.

TL;DR: The UK gets its oil from a mix of domestic North Sea production plus imports, with Norway and the US as the main foreign suppliers and Nigeria, Libya and Algeria among the other important sources.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.