Oil Reserves by Country

This article ranks oil reserves by country according to estimates by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The CIA defines oil reserves as "the stock of proved reserves of crude oil in barrels (bbl) . . . which, by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with a high degree of confidence to be commercially recoverable from a given date forward, from known reservoirs and under current economic conditions."

World oil reserves currently amount to nearly 1.4 trillion barrels of crude. The world presently consumes 97 million barrels of oil each day. Based on these reserve and consumption rates, therefore, the world has 39 years of oil reserves. This calculation does not account for future finds or the phenomenon known as "reserves growth"-- the tendency of oil reserves to grow as technology advances in the industry.

The oil reserve (bbl) rankings that follow include each country's percent of world oil reserves, daily national consumption rates, and oil reserves measured in years.

1. Oil Reserves by Country: Saudi Arabia

Oil reserves (bbl): 246.6 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 17.88%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 2.43 million
Oil reserves (years): 278

2. Oil Reserves by Country: Canada

Oil reserves (bbl): 175 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 12.78%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 2.15 million
Oil reserves (years): 223

3. Oil Reserves by Country: Iran

Oil reserves (bbl): 137.6 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 9.97%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 1.81 million
Oil reserves (years): 208

4. Oil Reserves by Country: Iraq

Oil reserves (bbl): 115 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 8.34%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 687,000
Oil reserves (years): 459

5. Oil Reserves by Country: Kuwait

Oil reserves (bbl): 104 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 7.54%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 320,000
Oil reserves (years): 890

6. Oil Reserves by Country: United Arab Emirates

Oil reserves (bbl): 97.8 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 7.09%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 435,000
Oil reserves (years): 616

7. Oil Reserves by Country: Venezuela

Oil reserves (bbl): 97.77 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 7.08%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 740,000
Oil reserves (years): 362

8. Oil Reserves by Country: Russia

Oil reserves (bbl): 79 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 5.73%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 2.85 million
Oil reserves (years): 76

9. Oil Reserves by Country: Libya

Oil reserves (bbl): 47 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 3.41%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 280,000
Oil reserves (years): 460

10. Oil Reserves by Country: Nigeria

Oil reserves (bbl): 37.5 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 2.72%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 280,000
Oil reserves (years): 367

11. Oil Reserves by Country: Kazakhstan

Oil reserves (bbl): 30 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 2.18%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 241,000
Oil reserves (years): 341

12. Oil Reserves by Country: Qatar

Oil reserves (bbl): 25.41 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 1.84%
Daily national consumption (bbl) : 142,000
Oil reserves (years): 490

13. Oil Reserves by Country: China

Oil reserves (bbl): 20.35 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 1.48%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 8.2 million
Oil reserves (years): 7

14. Oil Reserves by Country: United States

Oil reserves (bbl): 19.12 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: 1.39%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 18.69 million
Oil reserves (years): 3

15. Oil Reserves by Country: Angola

Oil reserves (bbl): 13.5 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .98%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 70,000
Oil reserves (years): 528

16. Oil Reserves by Country: Algeria

Oil reserves (bbl): 13.42 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .97%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 325,000
Oil reserves (years): 113

17. Oil Reserves by Country: Brazil

Oil reserves (bbl): 13.2 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .96%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 2.46 million
Oil reserves (years): 15

18. Oil Reserves by Country: Mexico

Oil reserves (bbl): 12.42 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .90%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 2.08 million
Oil reserves (years): 16

19. Oil Reserves by Country: Azerbaijan

Oil reserves (bbl): 7 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .51%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 136,000
Oil reserves (years): 141

20. Oil Reserves by Country: Sudan

Oil reserves (bbl): 6.8 billion
Percent of world oil reserves: .49%
Daily national consumption (bbl): 84,000
Oil reserves (years): 222

Source(s):

"Country Comparison : Oil - consumption," THE WORLD FACTBOOK, Central Intelligence Agency

"Country Comparison : Oil - proved reserves," THE WORLD FACTBOOK, Central Intelligence Agency