The line graph compares the production rate of three main fuel types in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 2000.
Overall, all three types of fuels had witnessed a gradual growth in their production levels in the UK except for coal, which had experienced a sudden drop in its manufacturing rate in the early part of the survey period, before increasing and decling slowly towards 2000. Additionally, majority of the fuels produced were petroleum derived in the entire 19-year survey, followed closely by natural gas production by 1991.
In detail, 1981 saw approximately 90 million tonnes of oil produced from petroleum, whereas coal-based oil came in second at 80 million tonnes. Only half of this amount was oil produced from natural gas in the same year in the UK. Three years after (1984), despite the rising production levels of petroleum-derived oil, recording at an all-time high of 140 million tonnes, the same cannot be said for oil produced from coal. It dipped significantly, halving at 40 million tonnes of oil, similar to natural gas sourced oils in 1984. After this dip, coal-derived oil production recovered, and by 1986 to 1990, it stalled at 60, million tonnes, before decreasing further to nearly 30 million tonnes of oil. This decrease was, which was more than two folds lower than the amount of oil produced from coal in 1981.
Meanwhile, both petroleum-based oil and natural gas-derived oil, rose gradually in their production levels by 1984. After peaking in the same year and remaining constant from 1984 to 1987, petroleum oil recorded a slow decline in its production rate that by 1991, it tallied at 100 million tonnes of oil. Thereafter, its production rate climbed again and peaked once more before plateuing to 140 million tonnes from 1996 to 2000. Similarly, oil form natural gas also exhibited constant growth from 1986 to 1999. By 2000, it closed its production gap with petroleum at 100 million tonnes, almost 80% increase compared to its 1981 data.