THE PRICE of oil has been particularly volatile in the past few days, as the political turmoil in the Arab countries of north Africa and the Middle East continues to spread.

With that political upheaval comes the risk of a disruption in the supply of oil – which, in Libya’s case, has fallen in the past few days, as Saudi Arabia ups its output to cover the shortfall.

Libya produces just under two per cent of the world’s total oil output, with around two-thirds of that sent around the world to the developed, first world OECD countries.

But, as the International Energy Agency points out in a graph produced by the Economist, the fact that Ireland accounts for very little of Libya’s exports isn’t a fair reflection of its usage.

Though Ireland imports around 14,000 barrels of oil per day from Libya – a teeny portion of Libya’s 1.2 million daily exports – the amount makes up a staggering quantity of Ireland’s oil imports.

In fact, of the OECD countries, Ireland is the nation most dependant on Libya’s oil: it accounts for over 23 per cent of Ireland’s oil use, compared to less than nine per cent of Britain’s and less than one per cent of that of the US.

View the graph in full at The Economist >