List of countries by proven oil reserves


This is a list of countries by proven oil reserves. Proven reserves are those quantities of petroleum 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.
Some statistics on this page are disputed and controversial. Different sources give different figures. Some of the differences reflect different types of oil included. Different estimates may or may not include oil shale, mined oil sands or natural gas liquids.
Because proven reserves include oil recoverable under current economic conditions, nations may see large increases in proven reserves when known, but previously uneconomic deposits become economic to develop. In this way, Canada's proven reserves increased suddenly in 2003 when the oil sands of Alberta were seen to be economically viable. Similarly, Venezuela's proven reserves jumped in the late 2000s when the heavy oil of the Orinoco Belt was judged economic.

Countries

Reserves amounts are listed in millions of barrels. The column "Years until exhaustion" uses the daily production figures as of 2016.

Different sources

Sources sometimes differ on the volume of proven oil reserves. The differences sometimes result from different classes of oil included, and sometimes result from different definitions of proven.
Comparison of proven oil reserves from some widely used sources
SourceCanadaIranRussiaSaudi ArabiaUnited StatesVenezuela
BP172.9157.8103.2267.048.5298.3
OPEC4.2157.580.0266.636.5300.0
US Central Intelligence Agency171.0157.8103.2268.336.5298.4
US Energy Information Administration172.5157.880.0268.339.9298.4