world’s largest oil reserves by country

The volatility of oil prices over the past decade has created a lot of concern for businessmen, national governments and global policymakers. With such uncertainty in prices, coupled with environmental concerns, as the world’s appetite for fossil fuels grows, the questions of whether there are enough oil reserves to meet demand and what the consequences of its extraction will be are never. stay more relevant. To shed more light on a somewhat ambiguous topic, we have profiled the ten countries with the largest oil reserves in the world to help put their positions on the energy landscape into perspective. The volatility of oil prices over the past decade has created much of concern for governments and policymakers globally. This lack of certainty, coupled with environmental concerns as the world grows hungrier for energy, the question of whether there are enough oil reserves to meet demand and what the consequences will be has never been more pertinent. In an effort to shed more light on this somewhat hazy sector, we have profiled countries with the highest oil reserves in the world. These are the countries whose proven oil reserves are in the top 10 globally. the question of whether there are enough oil reserves to meet demand and what the consequences will be has never been more relevant. In an effort to shed more light on this somewhat hazy sector, we have profiled countries with the highest oil reserves in the world. These are the countries whose proven oil reserves are in the top 10 globally. the question of whether there are enough oil reserves to meet demand and what the consequences will be has never been more relevant. In an effort to shed more light on this somewhat hazy sector, we have profiled countries with the highest oil reserves in the world. These are the countries whose proven oil reserves are in the top 10 globally.

10. United States – 39.230 million barrels

In recent years, US oil reserves have soared thanks to the increased use of unconventional drilling methods that allow for the extraction of more shale oil and gas than was previously possible. As a result of these, especially fracking and horizontal drilling, US reserves exceeded 36,000 million barrels in 2012 for the first time since 1975. However, the proven US oil reserves are only a small fraction of the reserves of the world’s leaders. oil such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

9. Libya – 48.363 million barrels

Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth in the world. It has the potential to have a greater fossil fuel reserve than we currently know, as it remains largely unexplored due to past sanctions against foreign oil companies. Libyan oil represented 98% of the government’s revenue in 2012 but, due to recent political instability, Libya’s power as an oil producer has been greatly hampered. Ultimately, untapped oil reserves are expected to promote greater economic investment as the political situation stabilizes.

8. Russia – 80,000 million barrels

Russia is a country full of natural resources for energy use, especially the country’s huge oil reserves under the vast Siberian plains. Russian oil production declined markedly after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, but the country has renewed production in recent years. The nation may further increase its oil and gas reserves in the future as exploration continues under its Arctic water and ice reserves.

7. United Arab Emirates – 97,800 million barrels

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) supplies most of their oil from the Zakum field, which has an estimated 66 billion barrels, making it the third largest oil field in the region, behind only Ghawar Field (Saudi Arabia) and Burgan Field (Kuwait). About 40 percent of the country’s GDP is based on oil and gas production, and since it was discovered in 1958, it has enabled the UAE to become a modern state with a high standard of living.

6. Kuwait – 101,500 million barrels

While a small country in terms of area, Kuwait holds more than a good portion of the world’s oil reserves. Over 5 bbl of reserves are located in the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone that Kuwait shares with Saudi Arabia, while over 70 billion barrels of Kuwait oil are in the Burgan field, the second largest oil field in the world.

5. Iraq – 142.503 million barrels

Despite the shaky political situations in its recent history, the Iraqi country sits on some of the world’s largest reserves of crude oil. In fact, due to the civil unrest and military occupations that have characterized the national scene in recent decades, no significant exploration of Iraq’s oil reserves has been possible. Consequently, the data used to determine the global ranking of Iraq’s oil holdings are also at least thirty years old and based on 2D seismic surveys. However, a period of relative calm over the past two years has given greater hope for the development of the country’s oil infrastructure.

4. Iran – 158,400 million barrels

Iran has close to 160,000 million barrels of proven oil reserves, making it considerably rich in terms of global oil resources. Looking at the most easily accessible reserves (excluding many of the unconventional and difficult-to-extract reserves in Canada), Iran falls behind Venezuela and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Oil in Iran was first produced in 1908, and at its current rate of extraction, Iranian oil will last close to 100 years longer. Unlike Saudi oil, which is widespread in some huge and very rich oil fields, Iranian oil is found in close proximity to 150 hydrocarbon fields, many of which have both crude oil and natural gas.

3. Canada – 169.709 million barrels

Canada has 169 million barrels of proven oil reserves, of which the most significant part is in the form of tar sands deposits in the province of Alberta. Additionally, most of the country’s conventionally accessible oil reserves are located in Alberta.

Since extracting oil from the vast majority of Canadian oil reserves is a laborious and capital-intensive process, production tends to come in sporadic explosions rather than constant flows. Oil companies therefore begin by extracting lower density, higher value oils and directing their efforts towards extracting crude deposits only in times of high commodity prices.

2. Saudi Arabia – 266.455 million barrels

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has for many decades been considered the most iconic modern state in the oil equation for opulence and influence in global politics. However, Saudi Arabia is no longer the world leader in oil potential.

While the Saudis’ 266 million barrels of proven oil reserves are marginally smaller than Venezuela’s, all Saudi oil is in conventionally accessible oil wells within large oil fields. Furthermore, the reserves of Saudi Arabia are considered to be made up of one fifth of the conventional reserves of the entire globe. There are many who also believe that, with further exploration, Saudi Arabia will overtake Venezuela at the top of the oil holding rankings. For example, the US Geological Survey estimates that there are well over 100,000 million barrels lying hidden beneath the arid sands of the Saudi deserts.

1. Venezuela – 300.878 million barrels

With over 300 million barrels of proven reserves, Venezuela has the largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world. The country’s oil is a relatively new discovery. Previously, Saudi Arabia had always held the number one position.

The oil sand deposits in Venezuela are similar to those in Canada. Venezuela also boasts many conventional oil deposits. The oil sands in Venezuela from the Orinoco are significantly less viscous than Canada, so the oil sands can be mined using traditional oil extraction methods, thus offering a considerable advantage over its North American rival in terms of capital requirements and mining costs.

Countries with the largest proven oil reserves