Top 10 Countries With Largest Oil Reserves ’26
Top 10 Countries With Largest Oil Reserves in the World (2026)
Top 10 Countries with Largest Oil Reserves
The table below highlights the top 10 countries with largest oil reserves worldwide. Proven reserves are the amount of oil that is known to exist and could be produced with current technology and under present economic conditions.
Rank Country Region Oil Reserves (Billion Barrels)
1 🇻🇪 Venezuela South America 303.2
2 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Middle East 267.2
3 🇮🇷 Iran Middle East 208.6
4 🇨🇦 Canada North America 163
5 🇮🇶 Iraq Middle East 145
6 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates Middle East 113
7 🇰🇼 Kuwait Middle East 101.5
8 🇷🇺 Russia Eurasia 80
9 🇱🇾 Libya Africa 48.4
10 🇺🇸 United States North America 45
Oil is one of the most powerful natural resources on Earth. Globally, proven oil reserves are measured at over 1.5 trillion barrels of crude that can be extracted with current technology and market conditions. However, these reserves are not evenly distributed; a small number of countries hold the majority of proven oil reserves.
Venezuela holds larger proven oil reserves than any other nation in the world. The country has about 303 billion barrels buried mainly in the Orinoco Belt. The recent capture of President Nicolás Maduro by US forces and announcements about transferring millions of barrels of oil to the US show how oil and politics remain deeply intertwined in this nation.
Alongside Venezuela, countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, and Iraq together control roughly half of the world’s known oil reserves.
Key Takeaways
- The Middle East dominates global oil reserves, holding about 48% of the world’s total, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the UAE, and Kuwait all ranking in the global top ten.
- Venezuela ranks first globally with over 303 billion barrels of oil reserves, but it is not the world’s largest oil producer.
- North America has major oil reserves, mainly because of Canada and the United States, together accounting for over 200 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
Source: OPEC
Note: Figures shown are approximate and based on the latest publicly available estimates of proven oil reserves.
Wikipedia ((millions of barrels)
11. Nigeria 37,000
12. Kazakhstan 30,000
13. China 26,000
14. Qatar 25,000
15. Somalia 20,000
16. Sierra Leone 20,000
17. Brazil 13,000
18. Algeria 12,000
19. Guyana 11,000
20. Ecuador 8,30031 Malaysia 3,600
40 Australia 2,400
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