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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Fact #201: January 28, 2002
Top 10 Countries with Oil Reserves

The Oil and Gas Journal estimates that Saudi Arabia had more than 250 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in January 2000. No other country comes close to having that amount of reserves. The 10 countries with the highest reserves are shown in the graph.

Graph: Top 10 countries with oil reserves, January 1, 2000

Supporting Information

Country Oil Reserves
(in billions of barrels)
Saudi Arabia 263.5
Iraq 112.5
United Arab Emirates 97.8
Kuwait 96.5
Iran 89.7
Venezuela 72.6
Russia 48.6
Libya 29.5
Mexico 28.4
China 24.0

Source: Energy Information Administration, International Energy Annual 1999, Table 8.1, Washington, DC, 2001. [Original source: PennWell Publishing Company, Oil and Gas Journal.]

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