Top 15 World’s Largest Oil Reserves

World’s Largest Oil Reserves

What is 1 barrel of oil worth in comparison to human productivity?

Estimates suggest 1 barrel equals to 25,000 hours of human labour

(12.5 years at 40 hours per week)

or

1 barrel equals 12 men working 40 hours per week for one year.

Who Has The Most Oil?

Big movements in the price of oil can have significant effects in the general economy, and although the commodity is off its all-time highs, countries with the most oil within their borders are set to benefit as demand for crude continues to rise.

With much of the world’s existing reserves found in the Middle East, Gulf of Mexico and a few other locations around the globe, individual countries benefit incredibly from their surprisingly high concentrations of oil.

As of 2010, the US government estimates that the world has proven reserves in the neighborhood of 1.35 trillion barrels; the net amount of oil fields that have been identified as having a reasonable certainty of recovery. Labeling subterranean oil proved reserves takes into consideration both the logistic feasibility, political and economic conditions surrounding the oil’s physical extraction.

With the most recent data from the Energy Information Administration, here are the countries with the biggest proven oil reserves.

1. Saudi Arabia

Proved oil reserves: 259.9 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 19.20%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009): 

Total oil production: 9.76 million barrels

Consumption: 2.43 million barrels

Exports to the US: 1.09 million barrels (Dec. 2010)

2. Canada

Proved oil reserves: 175.2 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 12.94%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 3.29 million barrels

Consumption: 2.15 million barrels

Exports to the US: 2.71 million barrels (Dec. 2010)

3. Iran

Proved oil reserves: 137.6 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 10.16%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 4.18 million barrels

Consumption: 1.69 million barrels

Exports to the US: 0

4. Iraq

Proved oil reserves: 115 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 8.5%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009): 

Total oil production: 2.4 million barrels

Consumption: 636,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 336,000 barrels (Dec. 2010

5. Kuwait

Proved oil reserves: 101.5 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 7.5%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 2.5 million barrels

Consumption: 372,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 125,000 barrels (Dec. 2010)

6. Venezuela

Proved oil reserves: 99.4 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 7.34%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009): 

Total oil production: 2.47 million barrels

Consumption: 723,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 917,000 barrels (Dec. 2010)

7. United Arab Emirates

Proved oil reserves: 97.8 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 7.22%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 2.79 million barrels

Consumption: 492,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 10,000 barrels (Sept. 2010)

8. Russia

Proved oil reserves: 60 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 4.43%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 9.93 million barrels

Consumption: 2.74 million barrels

Exports to the US: 514,000 barrels (Dec. 2010

9. Libya

Proved oil reserves: 44.3 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 3.27%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009): 

Total oil production: 1.79 million barrels

Consumption: 264,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 66,000 barrels (Dec. 2010)

10. Nigeria

Proved oil reserves: 37.2 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 2.75%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 2.21 million barrels

Consumption: 272,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 1.07 million barrels (Dec. 2010)

11. Kazakhstan

Proved oil reserves: 30 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 2.22%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 1.54 million barrels

Consumption: 241,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 21,000 barrels (Dec. 2010)

12. Qatar

Proved oil reserves: 25.4 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 1.88%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 1.21 million barrels

Consumption: 147,000 barrels

Exports to the US: 16,000 barrels (Dec. 2010

13. China

Proved oil reserves: 20.4 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 1.51%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 3.99 million barrels

Consumption: 8.32 million barrels

Exports to the US: 8,000 barrels (Dec 2010)

14. United States

Proved oil reserves: 19.2 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 1.42%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 9.14 million barrels

Consumption: 18.81 million barrels

15. Brazil

Proved oil reserves: 11.65 billion barrels

Proportion of world total: 0.95%

Daily Oil Statistics (2009):

Total oil production: 2.57 million barrels

Consumption: 2.52 million barrels

Exports to the US: 295,000 barrels (Dec 2010)