Oil Reserves By Country

As the world continues its heavy reliance on fossil fuels, countries' oil reserves often come under significant scrutiny due to their economic and geopolitical importance. Oil reserves represent a nation's quantity of oil that can be technically and economically recoverable, proving a lifeline for many economies around the globe as they generate significant revenue, especially for oil-rich nations. This article takes a deep dive into the distribution, size, and status of oil reserves globally, focusing more closely on the situation in the United States. 

From information available, we obtained several critical insights: 

• Venezuela tops the list with the largest oil reserves worldwide, boasting an impressive volume of 303.8 billion barrels. This South American nation is followed closely by Saudi Arabia, with an estimated 297.5 billion barrels.
• The United States, one of the world's largest oil consumers, has a significant but not topmost reservoir of oil reserves. The country's total oil reserves stand at 68.8 billion barrels, ranking ninth globally. 
• A noticeable trend is the high concentration of oil reserves in the Middle East, with Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates making it to the top ten. These nations together account for a substantial proportion of the world's total oil reserves.
• China, housing the world's largest population, maintains 26.0 billion barrels—far less than the leading oil reserve nations. Similarly, India, another populous nation, has only 4.5 billion barrels of oil reserved.
• Rounding up the tail end of the list are countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Thailand, with 0.2 billion and 0.3 billion barrels respectively - evidence of the marked disparity in oil reserves globally.

To sort the data in the table, click on the column headers.

Statistical Review of World Energy - British Petroleum