PULSE · HOW THESE NUMBERS WORK
How Much Oil and Coal the World Burns Each Day — And Why Our Counters Say 'est.'
Right now, somewhere under the North Sea or the Permian Basin, oil is flowing up a well; somewhere in Shanxi or Jharkhand, coal is feeding a furnace. So how much oil does the world actually pump in a day, how much coal does it burn in a year, who counts it, and why do our counters wear an 'est.' badge instead of claiming to meter every barrel and every tonne live?
Two of the most consequential flows on the planet happen almost entirely out of sight: the oil pumped from wells beneath deserts and seabeds, and the coal burned in power stations and furnaces across Asia. Neither makes the news on a given day. But measured across a year, the scale is staggering — and together these two fossil fuels still supply most of the energy that runs the modern world. These two counters show those flows as running daily totals. Like the population and carbon counters beside them, they wear an est. badge, and understanding why is the key to reading them honestly.
The numbers, and how to feel them
The world pumps about 84 million barrels of crude oil and condensate every day — roughly 970 barrels a second. And it burns about 8.77 billion tonnes of coal a year — roughly 278 tonnes a second, a record set in 2024. Those are not small numbers, and they are not slowing down the way many hoped: coal use hit an all-time high in 2024, and oil output is near its highest ever. Our counters spread each figure evenly across the seconds and show what has accumulated since midnight UTC.
Which number is the honest one?
Both counters made a deliberate choice about which figure to count, because in each case a word has more than one meaning.
For oil, the larger figure you often see — around 103 million barrels a day — is "petroleum and other liquids," which folds in natural-gas liquids, biofuels and the extra volume created during refining. We count the smaller, truer number: crude oil and lease condensate, the oil that actually comes up out of the ground. That is what "oil produced" means to a normal reader.
For coal, we count consumption — the coal actually burned — not production, which is slightly higher because of stockpiling and trade. For a counter called "coal burned today," that is the honest figure.
In both cases the rule is the same: count the number that matches what the label says, and tell you about the bigger one here rather than quietly inflating the counter.
Nobody meters every barrel and tonne live
There is no global sensor wired to every oil well and every furnace. The figures come from careful reconstruction — company filings, customs records, national statistics — by the US Energy Information Administration for oil and the International Energy Agency for coal. They are authoritative, but they are estimates compiled after the fact, not live feeds. Real output is not even: oil rises and falls with OPEC decisions and demand, and coal use swings sharply with the seasons, heatwaves, and how much wind and solar are running that month.
So what are the counters doing?
Each one takes the most recent verified figure — daily oil output, the latest annual coal total — and spreads it evenly across the roughly 31.6 million seconds in a year, then shows how much has built up since midnight UTC. It is an honest average made visible, not a live meter. That is the whole philosophy of Pulse: show the pace honestly, label the estimate as an estimate, and always leave a door open to the solid data behind it.
Where to see it
The counters are the single planetary figures. To see where the oil comes from, open the oil-and-gas-fields layer on the Grid canvas; to see where the coal is dug, open the Grid coal-mines layer. And the electricity that two-thirds of the world's coal is burned to make has its own counter right here on Pulse, with the live country-by-country grid behind it in Grid.
Frequently asked questions
How much oil does the world produce in a day?
About 84 million barrels of crude oil and condensate every day — that is the figure our counter is built on, from the US Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook. Turned into a rate it works out to roughly 970 barrels every second. Our counter shows the running total since midnight UTC, so over a full day it climbs back toward that 84-million-barrel figure. To picture a barrel: it is 42 US gallons, about 159 litres — so the world pumps enough oil every second to fill several large bathtubs, all day, every day.
Why 84 million barrels and not the 100-million figure I've seen?
Because the word 'oil' has two honest meanings and we count the truer one. Our 84-million-barrel figure is crude oil plus lease condensate — the actual oil that comes up out of the ground. The larger figure you often see quoted, around 103 million barrels a day, is 'petroleum and other liquids': it adds natural-gas liquids, biofuels, and the extra volume that appears during refining (processing gain). Those are real and worth knowing, but to a normal reader 'oil produced' means the oil pumped from wells, not refinery gain and biodiesel. So we count the crude-and-condensate number and tell you the bigger one here, rather than quietly inflating the counter.
How much coal does the world burn in a year?
About 8.77 billion tonnes in 2024 — an all-time record, and a figure that is remarkably consistent across every source that reports it, from the International Energy Agency's annual Coal report onward. Spread across the seconds of a year that works out to roughly 278 tonnes every second. Two-thirds of all that coal is burned in power stations to make electricity, and one country, China, burns about a third of the entire world's coal on its own. Our counter shows the running total since midnight UTC.
Is that coal figure 'burned' or 'produced'?
Burned — and the distinction matters, so we are careful about it. The number we use is coal consumption: the coal actually used and burned worldwide. Coal production (the coal dug out of mines) is slightly higher, a little over 9 billion tonnes, because of stockpiling and trade timing. For a counter called 'coal burned today,' consumption is the honest figure, so that is the one we count. It is the same principle as the oil counter: pick the number that matches what the label actually says.
Are the counters metering oil and coal live?
No, and that is the whole reason for the 'est.' badge. There is no global meter wired to every oil well and every coal furnace reporting in real time. What we do instead is take the most recent verified figures — daily oil output and the latest annual coal total — and spread them evenly across the seconds, then show how much has accumulated since midnight UTC. It is an honest average made visible, not a live sensor. Real output shifts: oil rises and falls with OPEC decisions and demand, and coal use swings with the seasons, the weather, and how much wind and solar are running. The counters deliberately do not pretend to track those swings second by second.
Who measures all this, and where can I see it?
Oil output comes from the US Energy Information Administration, a US-government agency whose data is public-domain and free to use; coal figures come from the International Energy Agency's annual coal market report, the standard reference cited around the world. Both are careful reconstructions from company filings, customs data and national statistics — not live feeds, which is exactly why an honest counter shows an average. You can see where the oil comes from on the Grid canvas's oil-and-gas-fields layer, and where the coal is dug on the Grid coal-mines layer. The counters are the single planetary figures; those maps are where the extraction is actually happening.
SEE IT LIVE
This number is live on Pulse, and it taps straight through to the map that proves it.