Top 10 The World’s Largest Oil Reserves By Country

10. United States – 39,230 million barrels

In recent years, the United States’ (US) oil reserves have climbed to record levels as a consequence of increased usage of unconventional drilling technology that allow for the extraction of more shale oil and gas than was previously possible. As a result of these innovations, notably fracking and horizontal drilling, the United States’ reserves hit 36,000 million barrels in 2012, the highest level since 1975. Nonetheless, the United States’ verified oil reserves are a fraction of those of the world’s petroleum heavyweights, such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.

9. Libya – 48,363 million barrels

Libya has the biggest oil reserves in Africa and the world’s tenth most. It has the potential to hold a greater fossil fuel deposit than we currently know about, owing to historical limitations against foreign oil businesses. Libyan oil accounted for 98% of government revenue in 2012, despite the fact that Libya’s position as an oil producer has been significantly weakened due to recent political upheaval. Undeveloped oil reserves are expected to encourage more economic investment as the political situation stabilizes.

8. Russia – 80,000 million barrels

Russia has abundant natural resources for energy use, most notably massive oil reservoirs under the vast Siberian plains. Russian oil output fell precipitously after the breakup of the former Soviet Union, however it has lately increased output. As drilling continues under its northern seas and ice, the country’s oil and gas reserves may increase in the future.

7. United Arab Emirates – 97,800 million barrels

The majority of the UAE’s oil comes from the Zakum field, which has an estimated 66 million barrels of oil, putting it third in the region behind only the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia and the Burgan Field in Kuwait. Since its discovery in 1958, oil and gas production has accounted for more than 40% of the country’s GDP, assisting the UAE in becoming a modern state with a high standard of living.

6. Kuwait – 101,500 million barrels

Despite its small land area, Kuwait owns a large percentage of the world’s crude oil reserves. The Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, which Kuwait shares with Saudi Arabia, has roughly 5 billion barrels of reserves, while the Burgan field, the world’s second largest oil field, contains approximately 70 million barrels of Kuwaiti oil.

5. Iraq – 142,503 million barrels

Despite recent political turmoil, Iraq holds some of the world’s largest known resources of petroleum crude oil. Indeed, due to the civil unrest and military incursions that have characterized the national landscape in recent decades, any significant exploration of Iraq’s oil deposits has proven difficult. As a result, the data used to assess Iraq’s global oil assets is at least three decades old and is based on two-dimensional seismic surveys. Nonetheless, recent years of relative stability have increased optimism for the expansion of the country’s oil infrastructure.

4. Iran – 158,400 million barrels

Iran is a large worldwide oil resource, with around 160,000 million barrels of proven oil reserves. Iran follows only Venezuela and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in terms of the most easily accessible reserves (excluding certain of Canada’s unconventional, difficult-to-extract resources).

Iran’s oil was first extracted in 1908, and it will last another 100 years at present production rates. Unlike Saudi oil, which is concentrated in a few enormous and exceptionally rich oil fields, Iranian oil is distributed throughout around 150 hydrocarbon fields, many of which contain both petroleum crude oil and natural gas.

3. Canada – 169,709 million barrels

Canada has almost 170,000 million barrels of proven oil reserves, the vast bulk of which are oil sands resources in Alberta. Furthermore, Alberta is home to the vast bulk of Canada’s conventionally accessible oil reserves.

Because extracting oil from the vast majority of Canada’s oil reserves is a labor- and capital-intensive process, production is sporadic rather than constant. As a result, oil companies start with lower density, higher value oils and only extract crude reserves when commodity prices are high.

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2. Saudi Arabia – 266,455 million barrels

For many decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been seen as the modern state most representative of the oil equation to riches and influence in international affairs. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is no longer the world’s prospective oil leader.

While Saudi Arabia has somewhat less known oil reserves than Venezuela, all of Saudi Arabia’s oil is in conventionally accessible oil wells inside large oil fields. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is considered to hold one-fifth of the world’s conventional reserves. Many people believe that with further expansion, Saudi Arabia will surpass Venezuela at the top of the proven oil holdings rankings.

The US Geological Survey, for example, predicts that there are well over 100,000 million barrels of oil lying undiscovered beneath the parched sands of Saudi Arabia.

1. Venezuela – 300,878 million barrels

Venezuela has the highest proven oil reserves in the world, with a total of 300,878 million barrels. The country’s oil is a relatively new discovery. Saudi Arabia has previously held the top spot.

The oil sands resources in Venezuela are comparable to those in Canada. Venezuela also has significant conventional oil resources. Because Venezuela’s Orinoco tar sands are less viscous than those of Canada, the oil sands may be extracted using regular oil extraction methods, giving it a significant advantage over its Northern American equivalent in terms of capital requirements and extraction costs.