Proven oil 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 (OPEC, CIA World Factbook, oil companies) 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.

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. [The data below does not seem to include shale oil and other "unconventional" sources of oil such as tar sands. For instance, North America has over 3 trillion barrels of shale oil reserves,^{[citation needed]} and the majority of oil produced in the USA is from shale, leading to the paradoxical data below that the USA will finish all its oil at current production in 11 years, because the production is mostly from shale but the reserves cited omit all shale reserves.]

Comparison of proven oil reserves from some widely used sources (billions of barrels, as of 31 Dec 2014)

Countries

Reserves amounts are listed in millions of barrels.

Proven reserves (millions of barrels)

Country	US EIA [5]	OPEC [6]	BP [7]	Others	Oil production 2021 (bbl/day)[8]	Years of production in reserve
Venezuela *(OPEC)	304,000.00	302,809	300,900		700,000	1,000
Saudi Arabia *(OPEC)	259,000.00	266,260	266,000		10,846,000	65.4
Iran *(OPEC)	209,000.00	[9] 208,600	155,600		3,511,000	163
Canada *	170,000.00	4,421	172,200	[10] 171,000	5,663,000	82
Iraq *(OPEC)	145,000.00	147,223	143,100		4,188,000	94.8
Kuwait *(OPEC)	102,000.00	104,000	104,000		2,715,000	103
United Arab Emirates *(OPEC)	98,000.00	111,000	111,000		3,638,000	74
Russia *	80,000.00	80,000	102,400		9,990,000	20
Libya *(OPEC)	48,000.00	74,363	78,400		1,224,000	110
United States *	44,000.00	32,773	55,000	[11] 43,629	11,315,000	6.3
Nigeria *(OPEC)	37,000.00	37,453	37,100		1,684,000	60
Kazakhstan *	30,000.00	30,000	30,000		1,849,000	40
China *	26,000.00	25,627	18,500		4,341,000	16
Qatar *	25,000.00	25,244	25,244		1,808,000	38
Brazil *	13,000.00	12,634	13,000	[11] 16,848	3,054,000	12
Algeria *(OPEC)	12,000.00	12,200	12,200		1,363,000	24
Guyana *	.00			11,000[12]	117,000	200
Namibia *	.00			11,000[13] [14]
Ecuador	8,300.00	8,273	8,000		475,000	48
Norway *	8,100.00	6,376	8,000		2,056,000	11
Angola *(OPEC)	7,800.00	8,384	12,700		1,162,000	18
Azerbaijan *	7,000.00	7,000	7,000		709,000	30
Suriname				06,500[15]	14,000	1,300
Mexico *	5,800.00	6,537	10,800	[16] 9.700	1,972,000	8.1
Oman *	5,400.00	5,373	5,300		980,000	15
India *	4,600.00	4,495	5,680	[11] 4,409	886,000	14
Vietnam *	4,400.00	4,400	4,000		203,000	59
South Sudan	3,800.00				153,000	68
Malaysia *	3,600.00	3,600	3,600	[11] 5,542	517,000	19
Egypt *	3,300.00	4,400	3,500		592,000	15
Yemen *	3,000.00		3,000		59,000	100
Congo(OPEC)	2,900.00		1,600		275,000	29
United Kingdom *	2,500.00	2,069	2,800	2,618	928,000	7.4
Syria *	2,500.00	2,500	2,500		42,000	160
Uganda *	2,500.00
Argentina *	2,500.00	2,162	2,400	2,330	701,000	9.8
Indonesia *	2,500.00	3,310	3,600	[11] 3,497	858,000	8.0
Australia *	2,400.00	3,985	4,000	4,002	253,000	26
Colombia *	2,000.00	1,665	2,300		768,000	7
Gabon *(OPEC)	2,000.00	2,000	2,000		181,000	30
Chad *	1,500.00		1,500		96,000	43
Sudan *	1,300.00	5,000	1,500		63,000	56
Brunei *	1,100.00	1,100	1,100		93,000	32
Equatorial Guinea *(OPEC)	1,100.00		1,100		144,000	21
Peru *	900.00		1,400	[11] 1,489	126,000	20
Kenya *	.00		750
Ghana *	700.00				160,000	10
Romania *	600.00		600		84,000	20
Turkmenistan *	600.00	600	600		224,000	7
Uzbekistan *	600.00	594	600		37,000	40
Pakistan *	500.00			[11] 236	105,000	10
Italy *	500.00		600	[11] 595	146,000	9
Denmark *	400.00	439	600	[11] 550	71,000	20
Tunisia *	400.00		400		37,000	30
Ukraine *	400.00	395			62,000	20
Turkey *	400.00			[11] 284	84,000	10
Thailand *	300.00		400		461,000	2
Trinidad and Tobago *	200.00		700	[11] 830	82,000	7
Bolivia *	200.00			[11] 210	65,000	8
Cameroon *	200.00				68,000	8
Belarus *	200.00	198			34,000	20
Bahrain *	200.00				189,000	3
DR Congo	200.00				21,000	30
Papua New Guinea *	200.00			[11] 158	37,000	10
Albania *	200.00				16,000	30
Chile *	200.00				16,000	30
Niger *	200.00				13,000	40
Spain *	200.00				77,000	7
Myanmar *	100.00				8,200	30
Philippines	100.00				15,000	20
Netherlands	100.00			[11] 141	74,000	4
Cuba *	100.00			[11] 124	37,000	7
Germany *	100.00			[11] 229	116,000	2
Poland *	100.00			[11] 151	37,000	7
Ivory Coast *	100.00				29,000	9
Somalia *	.00			111,000[17]
Guatemala	860				12,000	20
Serbia *	770				17,000	12
Croatia *	710				16,000	12
France *	610				61,000	2.7
Japan *	440				104,000	1.2
New Zealand *	400				21,000	5
Kyrgyzstan *	400				700	200
Austria *	350				25,000	3.8
Georgia *	350				300	300
Bangladesh *	280				13,000	5.9
Mauritania *	200
Bulgaria *	150				6,100	6.7
Czech Republic *	150	15.0			10,000	4
South Africa *	150	15			105,000	0.39
Israel *	120			[11] 12	5,800	5.7
Hungary *	120			[11] 35	39,000	0.84
Lithuania *	120				8,900	3.7
Tajikistan *	120				300	100
Greece *	100				15,000	2
Slovakia *	9.00				6,400	4
Benin *	8.00
Belize *	6.00				1,700	10
Taiwan *	2.00				25,000	0.2
Barbados	1.00				500	5
Jordan *	1.00			[11] 1	300	9
Morocco *	0.6.00				160	10
Ethiopia *	0.4.00
World	1,703,000.00	1,535,773	1,750,600		93,148,000	50.06

* indicates "Oil reserves in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" or "Energy in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.