World’s Largest Oil Reserves By Country

Venezuela has the world’s most significant known oil reserves, but aging infrastructure and internal turmoil are limiting the country’s ability to produce as much as it might.

There are 32 states in the United States that produce oil, with Texas leading the list and North Dakota a distant second.

Experts say that the world could face a global oil crisis in the next 100 years if known reserves stay the same.

Oil is present in every aspect of our life. Petroleum is found everywhere, from our car’s gasoline to our shampoo bottles, roadways, and more. Petroleum products are being utilized as a transportation fuel for heating and electrical generation.

Plastics, chemicals, and various other synthetic products all include oil as a constituent.

While the United States was the first nation to transform oil production into a large business thanks to John D. Rockefeller’s efforts, it is far from the only country having substantial oil reserves.

Drilling for oil started in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the United States, in 1859. However, most of the oil discovered in American land has been removed. The nations with the largest recorded oil reserves are mostly in the Middle East today, but not entirely.

World’s biggest oil reserves, organized by nation :

1. Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of oil.

Venezuela is a state riven by violence and poverty. Ironically, it also has the world’s greatest oil reserves, accounting for around 18% of worldwide funds. Petroleum accounts for nearly 90% of this country’s exports, which is unsurprising.

However, aging oil extraction equipment is dragging down this South American country’s yearly oil output.

2. Saudi Arabia has 267 billion barrels of oil.

Saudi Arabia, located in the Middle East, is known for its oil output. The infatuation, however, was not initiated by Saudis. Standard Oil of the United States was the first to drill for oil in Saudi Arabia in 1933.

Saudi Aramco, the primarily state-owned oil-producing enterprise of this country, is now the world’s most lucrative company and biggest oil producer.

3. Canada has 167 billion barrels of oil in its reserves.

It may surprise you that Canada is ranked third on this list. Canada is most known for its lovely people, moose, and cold winters, but the western region of Alberta contains vast oil reserves. This oil is found in the country’s contentious oil sands.

Large swaths of boreal forest have been burned to make room for enormous, open holes that can be seen from space, which will be used to extract bitumen. Because the extraction procedure from oil sands is energy-intensive, National Geographic brands Canada’s oil business as the “world’s most damaging.”

4. Iran has 155 billion barrels of oil.

Iran has found itself in a sticky, or rather greasy, situation. The country possesses a lot of oil, and more has lately been seen. In 2019, Iran announced the discovery of 53 billion gallons of crude oil in the western region of Khuzestan.

However, they are having difficulty selling it. US sanctions, which were placed on the nation in 2018 when it was discovered that Iran was breaking a nuclear agreement, are barring its sale.

5. Iraq has 145 billion barrels of oil.

There is a lot of oil in Iraq. Hundreds of millions of barrels of oil are stored in the country’s many oil fields. The country’s oil business was overseen by the government and closed to Westerners until 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq.

This started changing after the war. Private corporations now operate the majority of the country’s petroleum industry, which enterprises dominate outside of the country.

6. Kuwait has 101 billion barrels of oil.

Kuwait, situated between Iraq and Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf, has oil reserves that account for 92 percent of its export earnings, coupled with gas. Oil drilling started in the nation in 1938, followed by commercial exports in 1946.

7. 97 billion barrels – United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is somewhat smaller than Maine, yet it plays a significant role in the world oil sector. The nation comprises seven sovereign city-states and is located in the Arabian Gulf. Before discovering oil in the 1950s, the country’s economy was based on fishing and the selling of pearls.

8. Russia has 80 billion barrels of oil.

Russian oil accounts for nearly a quarter of all oil produced worldwide. The majority of the country’s petroleum is found in Western Siberia, where it is exploited by state-owned firms such as Lukoil and Rosneft.

The oil sector was handled by private firms when the Soviet Union came apart, but that has since changed, and the largest oil-producing enterprises are now all owned and operated by the state-owned monopoly.

9. Libyan Barrels – 48 Billion

Libya has the greatest oil reserves in Africa, according to reports. Unfortunately, the country’s civil war has resurfaced, and the largest oil producer and exporter have ceased. In January 2020, warlord Khalifa Haftar shut down oil facilities in the country’s eastern and central regions to pressure the government to reform.

10. The United States has 47 billion barrels of oil.

According to us Energy Agency, in 2019, 45 percent of the petroleum used in the United States was used as gasoline in automobiles, 20% was used for heating and diesel fuel, and 8% was used to power jet engines.

Texas produces the most oil in the nation, followed by North Dakota and New Mexico, which have less than half of what Texas does, then the other 32 US states.

When Will Oil Run Out?

Oil is a limited resource, and it is no longer available once it is used. However, predicting when the world’s oil supply will run out is difficult. According to some forecasts, an oil catastrophe might occur within 100 years.

However, there may be more on the earth than we know about. Will we take advantage of it? Climate change is prompting us to explore other sources of energy. As a result of this fact, scientists estimate that we will have to leave between 65 percent to 80 percent of our present known oil reserves untapped.

Only by doing so will we be able to keep our world from warming by more than two degrees, which is the current global objective. However, since oil consumption continues to rise, it is unclear if we will achieve this goal.

The World’s Largest Oil Reserves By Country