Karandikars & Associates

Countrywise Proved Oil Reserves

(Source: OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin )

OPEC’s Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) is a rich source of data. It gives country-wise proved oil reserves since 1960

We would like to highlight that for Canada, the data excludes oil sands. Hence OPEC considers Canada’s proven oil reserves to be modest, ~4.3 billion barrels, whereas many commentaries consider Canada’s oil reserves at ~180 billion barrels

Table below captures country-wise trend in proven oil reserves. Except for bringing world reserves, OPEC reserves and share of OPEC to the left, we have preserved the order in which OPEC provides the data, namely, countries grouped into OECD America, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Pacific, Other Asia, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Russia and Other Europe

Based on excluding Canadian oil sands, as at end 2024, world proven oil reserves were 1,566,869 million barrels, or 1,566.9 billion barrels. OPEC’s reserves were 1,241,294 million barrels, or 1241.3 billion barrels, accounting for ~79% of total world proven reserves

If we were to add oil sands and consider Canada’s proven reserves as ~180 billion barrels, share of OPEC will be ~71%, instead of ~79% as above

View the trends graphically

As per OPEC's Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB), World proven oil reserves were 291 billion barrels in 1960, 548 billion in 1970, 644 billion in 1980, 993 billion in 1990 and 1,087 billion in 2000

Since then, the reserves have grown by another 480 billion and stand at 1,567 billion barrels in 2024

Venezuela’ Oil Reserves

Venezuela’s oil reserves make a particularly interesting reading. Country’s proven oil reserves were 18.5 billion barrels in 1960, 14 billion in 1970, 19.5 billion in 1980, 60 billion in 1990 and 76.8 billion in 2000. They were 99.7 billion barrels in 2007. Then came the defining moment for Venezuela’s oil reserves. The reserves jumped to 172.3 billion in 2008 and to 296.5 billion barrels in 2010

This dramatic increase was due to inclusion of its Orinoco Belt heavy oil reserves into proved reserves category. Since then, Venezuela's oil reserves are at around 300 billion barrels

Canada did a similar thing when it increased its reserves from 50 billion barrels in 1998 to 182 billion barrels in 1999, by including Canadian oil sands under proved reserves category. However, as highlighted in the beginning, OPEC excludes oil sands while presenting Canada’s proven oil reserves