Oil: Proved reserves history Change 2008
2008 over share
Thousand million barrels 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2007 of total
US 36.5 36.5 35.1 35.6 36.1 36.4 35.1 35.4 35.1 34.3 33.8 32.1 31.2 30.2 29.6 29.8 29.8 30.5 28.6 29.7 30.4 30.4 30.7 29.4 29.3 29.9 29.4 30.5 30.5 - 2.4%
Canada 8.7 9.3 9.1 9.6 9.4 9.6 11.7 11.7 11.9 11.6 11.2 10.9 10.3 10.0 10.1 10.5 11.0 10.7 15.1 18.3 18.3 17.8 17.6 16.8 16.6 17.1 27.7 28.6 28.6 - 2.3%
Mexico 47.2 57.0 57.0 57.1 56.4 55.6 54.9 54.1 53.0 52.0 51.3 50.9 51.2 50.8 49.8 48.8 48.5 47.8 21.6 21.5 20.2 18.8 17.2 16.0 14.8 13.7 12.8 12.2 11.9 -2.6% 0.9%
Total North America 92.5 102.8 101.1 102.3 101.9 101.5 101.6 101.2 100.0 97.9 96.3 93.9 92.7 91.0 89.5 89.0 89.3 89.0 65.3 69.5 68.9 67.0 65.5 62.2 60.7 60.7 70.0 71.3 70.9 -0.4% 5.6%
Argentina 2.5 2.2 1.9 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.6 2.8 3.1 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.6 - 0.2%
Brazil 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.8 4.5 4.8 5.0 5.0 5.4 6.2 6.7 7.1 7.4 8.2 8.5 8.5 9.8 10.6 11.2 11.8 12.2 12.6 12.6 0.1% 1.0%
Colombia 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 1.1 1.2 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.9 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 -9.8% 0.1%
Ecuador 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.5 3.2 3.7 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.7 4.1 4.4 4.6 4.6 5.1 5.1 5.1 4.9 4.5 4.0 3.8 -4.6% 0.3%
Peru 0.6 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 - 0.1%
Trinidad & Tobago 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 -4.7% 0.1%
Venezuela 19.5 19.9 24.9 25.9 28.0 54.5 55.5 58.1 58.5 59.0 60.1 62.6 63.3 64.4 64.9 66.3 72.7 74.9 76.1 76.8 76.8 77.7 77.3 77.2 79.7 80.0 87.3 99.4 99.4 - 7.9%
Other S. & Cent. America 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 -0.6% 0.1%
Total S. & Cent. America 26.7 27.2 32.3 33.4 36.3 62.9 64.6 68.1 69.2 69.5 71.5 74.6 78.8 80.7 81.5 83.7 90.7 93.4 95.6 97.8 97.9 98.8 100.1 100.2 103.2 103.4 111.4 123.5 123.2 -0.3% 9.8%
Azerbaijan n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 - 0.6%
Denmark 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.8 -27.1% 0.1%
Italy 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 -4.5% 0.1%
Kazakhstan n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 25.0 25.0 25.0 39.6 39.6 39.6 39.6 39.8 39.8 39.8 39.8 - 3.2%
Norway 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.8 4.9 5.6 6.1 6.6 7.3 7.6 8.3 8.8 9.7 9.5 9.6 10.8 11.6 12.0 11.7 10.9 11.4 11.6 10.4 10.1 9.7 9.7 8.5 8.2 7.5 -8.2% 0.6%
Romania 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 - w
Russian Federation n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 55.8 59.2 59.6 64.6 73.9 77.3 76.8 77.6 79.0 80.4 79.0 -1.7% 6.3%
Turkmenistan n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 - w
United Kingdom 8.4 7.9 7.5 6.9 6.0 5.6 5.3 5.2 4.3 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.5 5.0 5.2 5.1 5.0 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.0 3.9 3.6 3.4 3.4 - 0.3%
Uzbekistan n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 - w
Other Europe & Eurasia 84.3 87.2 88.4 87.1 83.2 64.9 63.0 61.7 63.2 69.4 65.3 65.0 64.6 64.3 63.9 63.7 63.5 68.0 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 -2.2% 0.2%
Total Europe & Eurasia 98.3 100.8 101.4 100.2 96.7 78.6 76.8 75.8 77.3 83.4 80.4 80.9 81.5 80.7 80.4 81.6 82.8 88.0 104.9 107.8 108.5 128.2 141.4 144.5 143.1 143.8 143.8 144.6 142.2 -1.7% 11.3%
Iran 58.3 57.0 56.1 55.3 58.9 59.0 92.9 92.9 92.9 92.9 92.9 92.9 92.9 92.9 94.3 93.7 92.6 92.6 93.7 93.1 99.5 99.1 130.7 133.3 132.7 137.5 138.4 138.2 137.6 -0.4% 10.9%
Iraq 30.0 32.0 59.0 65.0 65.0 65.0 72.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 112.0 112.5 112.5 112.5 112.5 115.0 115.0 115.0 115.0 115.0 115.0 115.0 115.0 - 9.1%
Kuwait 67.9 67.7 67.2 67.0 92.7 92.5 94.5 94.5 94.5 97.1 97.0 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 96.5 99.0 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 101.5 - 8.1%
Oman 2.5 2.9 3.4 3.5 3.9 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.7 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.4 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.7 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.6 - 0.4%
Qatar 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.3 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.5 3.7 3.7 12.5 12.5 13.5 13.1 16.9 16.8 27.6 27.0 26.9 27.9 27.4 27.3 -0.6% 2.2%
Saudi Arabia 168.0 167.9 165.5 168.8 171.7 171.5 169.7 169.6 255.0 260.1 260.3 260.9 261.2 261.4 261.4 261.5 261.4 261.5 261.5 262.8 262.8 262.7 262.8 262.7 264.3 264.2 264.3 264.2 264.1 -0.1% 21.0%
Syria 1.5 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 2.0 1.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 3.2 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.5 - 0.2%
United Arab Emirates 30.4 32.2 32.4 32.3 32.5 33.0 97.2 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 98.1 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 97.8 - 7.8%
Yemen - - - - - 0.5 0.5 1.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.7 - 0.2%
Other Middle East 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 - w
Total Middle East 362.4 365.3 388.9 396.9 430.8 431.7 537.1 566.6 653.0 661.0 659.6 660.8 661.6 661.9 663.6 663.3 674.0 683.2 684.3 686.2 692.9 698.7 730.6 746.3 750.2 754.5 756.3 755.0 754.1 -0.1% 59.9%
Algeria 8.2 8.1 9.4 9.2 9.0 8.8 8.8 8.6 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 10.0 10.0 10.8 11.2 11.3 11.3 11.3 11.3 11.3 11.8 11.8 12.3 12.3 12.2 12.2 - 1.0%
Angola 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.7 2.1 2.0 1.4 2.0 2.0 2.1 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.9 3.0 3.1 3.7 3.9 4.0 5.1 6.0 6.5 8.9 8.8 9.0 9.0 9.0 13.5 13.5 - 1.1%
Chad - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 - 0.1%
Rep. of Congo (Brazzaville) 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 - 0.2%
Egypt 2.9 3.5 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.5 4.7 4.3 4.3 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.7 4.1 4.3 6.6% 0.3%
Equatorial Guinea - - - - - - - - - - - 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7 - 0.1%
Gabon 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.6 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 1.4 1.5 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.2 3.2 3.2 - 0.3%
Libya 20.3 22.6 22.2 21.8 21.4 21.3 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 22.8 29.5 29.5 29.5 29.5 29.5 36.0 36.0 36.0 39.1 39.1 41.5 41.5 43.7 43.7 - 3.5%
Nigeria 16.7 16.5 16.8 16.6 16.7 16.6 16.1 16.0 16.0 16.0 17.1 20.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 20.8 20.8 20.8 22.5 29.0 29.0 31.5 34.3 35.3 35.9 36.2 36.2 36.2 36.2 - 2.9%
Sudan - 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.7 6.3 6.4 6.4 6.6 6.7 6.7 - 0.5%
Tunisia 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.5 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.7 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 - w
Other Africa 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 w w
Total Africa 53.4 56.3 58.3 58.0 57.8 57.0 58.0 58.7 59.0 59.1 58.7 60.4 61.1 61.2 65.0 72.0 74.9 75.3 77.2 84.7 93.4 96.8 101.7 112.3 113.8 117.0 117.3 125.3 125.6 0.2% 10.0%
Australia 2.1 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.9 2.9 3.2 3.2 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.9 4.0 3.9 4.0 4.1 4.7 4.9 5.0 4.6 4.4 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 w 0.3%
Brunei 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.1 - 0.1%
China 13.3 13.3 13.2 14.9 16.3 17.1 17.1 17.4 17.3 16.0 16.0 15.5 15.2 16.4 16.2 16.3 16.4 17.0 17.4 17.8 17.9 18.3 15.5 15.5 15.5 15.6 16.3 16.1 15.5 -4.2% 1.2%
India 2.8 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.8 3.8 4.6 4.4 4.5 4.3 5.6 6.1 5.9 5.9 5.8 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.4 5.0 5.3 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.9 5.7 5.5 5.8 6.2% 0.5%
Indonesia 11.6 11.0 10.5 10.1 9.6 9.2 9.0 9.0 9.0 5.1 5.4 5.9 5.6 5.2 5.0 5.0 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.1 4.7 4.7 4.3 4.2 4.4 4.0 3.7 -6.0% 0.3%
Malaysia 1.8 2.3 2.6 2.6 2.9 3.5 3.5 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.7 5.1 5.0 5.2 5.2 5.0 5.0 4.7 5.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.8 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.5 - 0.4%
Thailand ^ ^ ^ ^ 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 - w
Vietnam - - - - - - - ^ 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.2 1.9 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.8 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.4 4.7 38.7% 0.4%
Other Asia Pacific 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 0.7 0.8 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 w 0.1%
Total Asia Pacific 33.9 35.3 34.8 36.3 38.2 39.1 39.7 39.8 39.9 35.0 36.6 37.1 37.7 38.8 39.3 39.4 38.9 40.4 41.3 42.7 42.9 43.4 40.6 40.8 40.3 40.8 41.8 41.3 42.0 1.8% 3.3%
Total World 667.2 687.6 716.9 727.2 761.6 770.9 877.9 910.2 998.4 1005.8 1003.2 1007.6 1013.3 1014.4 1019.2 1029.1 1050.6 1069.3 1068.5 1088.6 1104.5 1133.0 1180.0 1206.3 1211.3 1220.3 1240.6 1261.0 1258.0 -0.2% 100.0%
                 European Union  11.8 11.0 10.7 10.7 10.0 9.6 9.3 9.0 8.3 7.7 8.1 8.3 8.3 8.0 7.8 8.2 8.6 8.8 8.9 9.0 8.8 8.8 8.0 7.9 7.5 7.3 6.9 6.7 6.3 -5.8% 0.5%
                 OECD 109.3 119.8 117.6 118.3 118.7 118.7 119.3 119.1 118.3 115.8 115.2 113.4 113.3 111.3 110.3 111.4 112.9 113.4 89.2 93.3 93.3 91.6 88.4 84.6 81.9 81.8 89.5 90.3 88.9 -1.5% 7.1%
                 OPEC 437.0 440.3 469.7 477.9 513.3 539.0 645.7 677.6 764.0 768.3 768.9 774.9 778.3 780.1 783.9 791.6 809.7 822.4 827.2 837.5 851.0 860.7 897.3 917.4 923.3 930.9 940.0 957.1 955.8 -0.1% 76.0%
                 Non-OPEC £ 148.3 162.3 161.1 164.5 167.3 169.3 171.5 173.1 173.5 170.1 171.0 169.6 172.2 171.7 173.0 175.4 179.0 180.4 157.6 163.9 165.8 165.1 160.3 163.1 162.8 163.1 172.8 174.7 174.4 -0.2% 13.9%
                 Former Soviet Union 82.0 85.0 86.1 84.8 81.0 62.7 60.7 59.5 60.9 67.3 63.3 63.1 62.8 62.6 62.4 62.1 61.9 66.5 83.8 87.2 87.7 107.2 122.4 125.8 125.2 126.2 127.8 129.2 127.8 -1.1% 10.2%
Canadian oil sands n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 163.3 163.3 163.2 162.8 163.7 163.6 163.5 152.2 150.7 150.7    
Proved reserves and oil sands n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 1252.0 1267.8 1296.2 1342.8 1370.0 1374.9 1383.8 1392.8 1411.7 1408.7    
 ^ Less than 0.05.
w Less than 0.05%.
 n/a not available.
 £ Excludes Former Soviet Union.
'Remaining established reserves', less reserves 'under active development'.
Notes: Proved reserves of oil - Generally taken to be those quantities that geological and engineering information 
 indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing 
 economic and operating conditions. 
  Reserves-to-production (R/P) ratio - If the reserves remaining at the end of any year are divided by the 
  production in that year, the result is the length of time that those remaining reserves would last if  
  production were to continue at that rate. 
Source of data – The estimates in this table have been compiled using a combination of primary official sources, third-party data from the OPEC Secretariat, World Oil, Oil & Gas
Journal and an independent estimate of Russian reserves based on information in the public domain. Canadian proved reserves include an official estimate of 22.0 billion barrels for oil
sands ‘under active development’ in 2007. Reserves include gas condensate and natural gas liquids (NGLs) as well as crude oil.
Annual changes and shares of total are calculated using thousand million barrels figures.