Tax breaks for Big Oil are in the spotlight in Washington, D.C., with top executives of the major energy companies scheduled to make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill to defend the government incentives that their highly profitable industry enjoys.

But the tax credits, deductions and royalty relief provisions that benefit the oil industry in the United States add up to only a fraction of the $312 billion in annual fossil fuel subsidies in place in nations around the world.

The proposal by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove subsidies that add up to $31 billion over 10 years for the five biggest oil companies. But oil subsidies in just one country, Iran, added up to