We have seen the price of crude oil (USOUSD) rise by about 43% since the beginning of the year, from around $44 per barrel to $63 per barrel at the time of writing this. It reached the highest level since November 2018 last week, on the 9^th April to be exact, when it was trading at around $64.71 per barrel. In this article, we will take a look at the countries who have the largest crude oil reserves in the world.

USOUSD – Daily

Venezuela

At number one, we have a country which has been in turmoil in the last few months – Venezuela. Economic and social crisis have hit the South American nation and things are not looking to get better any time soon. However, it does top the list as the country with the largest crude oil reserves in the world at 300 billion barrels. Worth pointing out that it was the 15^th largest crude oil exporter at $26,4 billion barrels making it up 2.3% of the world total.

• Capital: Caracas
• Official language: Spanish
• Population: 31,568,179
• Gross Domestic Product: $92 billion
• Currency: Petro (PTR), Bolivar Soberano (VES)

Saudi Arabia

The next on the list is Saudi Arabia, which was actually the top crude oil exporter in the world last year with $182 billion worth of oil exports which was around 15,9% of the total crude oil exports in the world. The middle eastern country is highly reliant on its oil exports and its proven oil reserves amount to around 266 billion barrels.

• Capital: Riyadh
• Official language: Arabic
• Population: 33,000,000
• Gross Domestic Product: $759 billion
• Currency: Saudi Riyal (SAR)

Canada

At number three we have the North American nation of Canada with crude oil reserves of around 169 billion barrels with 95% of these reserves are in the oil sands deposits in the western province of Alberta. Canada was the 4th largest crude oil exporter last year with $68,9 billion worth of exports, making it up 5.8% of the total.

• Capital: Ottawa
• Official language: English and French
• Population: 37,067,011
• Gross Domestic Product: $1,9 trillion
• Currency: Canadian Dollar (CAD)

Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran is at number four with 158 billion worth of proven oil reserves. Iran was the 8^th largest crude oil exporter in the world with $45,7 billion, which was around 4% of the world total.

• Capital: Tehran
• Official language: Persian
• Population: 81,672,300
• Gross Domestic Product: $413 billion
• Currency: Iranian Rial (IRR)

Iraq

The last one on our list of countries with the largest crude oil exporters is Iraq with 142 billion barrels. Iraq was the 3^rd biggest crude oil exporter in 2018 with $91 billion worth of exports which made up 7.9% of the total. Iraq was one of the founding member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela when it was established back in 1960. Iraq’s economy is highly depended on oil with oil production accounting for 2/3 of the country’s GDP.

• Capital: Baghdad
• Official language: Arabic and Kurdish
• Population: 37,202,671
• Gross Domestic Product: $233 billion
• Currency: Iraqi dinar (IQD)

By Klāvs Valters  
 @klavsvalters

This article is written by a GO Markets Analyst and is based on their independent analysis. They remain fully responsible for the views expressed as well as any remaining error or omissions. Trading Oil CFDs, Forex and Derivatives carries a high level of risk.

Sources: IMF, CIA, MetaTrader 5

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