MojNews- Saudi Arabia retained the title of the world's top crude oil exporter last year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency on British energy giant BP's Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 report.

The kingdom's crude oil exports rose by 2.8% to reach 7.38 mbpd in 2018 from 7.18 mbpd in 2017, the report that was released on Tuesday showed.

Russia increased its crude oil exports only modestly, by 1.1% year-over-year, to 5.54 mbpd last year, from 5.48 mbpd the previous year, and came in second place.

Iraq was in third place after the country increased its crude oil exports to a whopping 7.2 mbpd from 4.03 mbpd in 2018 and 3.76 mbpd in 2017, the report showed.

The world recorded a total of 45.45 mbpd of crude oil exports last year, which was a 3.1% increase from 44.09 mbpd the year before.