Given the pace of global growth, experts say crude oil prices are higher than they should be — largely the result of concern that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz in its showdown with the U.S. and European Union over the expansion of its nuclear program.

Like Iran, the world’s other big oil producers can be subject to unpredictable and unstable political events, causing price shocks. Such was the case during the 2011 civil unrest in Libya. At the time, Libya was the 17th largest oil-producing country; today it ranks 25th.

In order to understand the effect of events on global oil markets a key figure to watch is the amount of crude produced daily in each country. With data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, CNBC.com took a look at the countries that produce the most crude oil on that basis. (Production is defined as extraction from the Earth’s crust, prior to the refining process.)

According to the EIA, daily global production is 88.76 million barrels. The Middle East accounts for 31 percent; North America, 20 percent; Eurasia, 11 percent; Africa, Asia and Oceania, 9 percent; and Central and South America, Europe, 5 percent. (Data as of December 2011, unless otherwise noted.)

So, which countries produce the most crude oil? Click ahead for the top 10.

By Paul Toscano
Posted 24 April 2012

Crude production: 2.75 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 3.1 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 352,000 barrels
Proven reserves: 104 billion barrels

Pictured: A Kuwait Oil Co. drilling rig operates on the northern border between Iraq and Kuwait.

Crude production: 2.8 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 3.15 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 321,000 barrels
Proven reserves: 12.86 billion barrels

Pictured: View of the Rio-Niteroi Bridge in Rio de Janeiro.

Crude production: 2.95 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 3.3 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 1.11 million barrels
Proven reserves: 10.42 billion barrels

Pictured: Two workers walk aboard the Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) Ku-S oil processing center, part of the Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex, in the Gulf of Mexico off Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche state, Mexico.

Crude production: 3.23 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 3.6 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 35,000 barrels
Proven reserves: 97.8 billion barrels

Pictured: A pipeline in UAE carrying crude oil to a Dharan refinery and oil storage tanks before being loaded onto oil tankers.

Crude production: 3.92 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 4.4 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 3.01 million barrels
Proven reserves: 175.21 billion barrels

Pictured: An oil rig in Big Valley, Alberta, Canada

Crude production: 4.13 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 4.6 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 0
Proven reserves: 137 billion barrels

Pictured: Oil tankers pass through Haj Omran, on the Iranian border.

Crude production: 4.19 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 4.7 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 2,000 barrels
Proven reserves: 20.35 billion barrels

Pictured: Gas drilling rig operated by Chinese consortium in area near Japan’s exclusive economic zone, East China Sea.

Crude production: 10.3 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 11.64 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 572,000 barrels
Proven reserves: 60 billion barrels

Pictured: Oil rig, Tyumen oil field, Siberia, Russia.

Crude production: 10.59 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 11.94 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: Not applicable
Proven reserves: 20.68 billion barrels*

*Numbers as of 2009, the most recent numbers made available by the EIA.

Pictured: Pump-jack silhouetted against the sky, Van, Texas.

Crude production: 11.75 million barrels per day
Share of world production: 13.24 percent
Daily exports to the U.S.: 1.42 million barrels
Proven reserves: 262.6 billion barrels

Photo: Oil tanker at a fuel station in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.