Venezuela is estimated to have about 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest of any country in the world and roughly around one‑fifth of global reserves.

Current estimate

  • Most recent international estimates cluster Venezuela’s proven oil reserves in the 297–303 billion barrel range, with 303 billion barrels widely cited for 2023–2025.
  • This places Venezuela ahead of Saudi Arabia and other major producers in terms of proven reserves on paper.

Share of global reserves

  • With around 303 billion barrels, Venezuela accounts for about 17–20% of the world’s proven crude oil reserves, depending on the specific global total used.
  • Global proven oil reserves are roughly on the order of 1.7 trillion barrels , so Venezuela’s reserves represent a very large slice of that total.

Nature of the oil

  • A large portion of these reserves is extra‑heavy crude located in the Orinoco Belt , which is more difficult and expensive to extract and process than lighter crude.
  • Because of this geology and cost, reserve figures can shift with oil prices and technology, and not all of these barrels are easily turned into commercially viable production in the short term.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.