Venezuela is the country with the largest proven oil reserves in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and other major producers.

What “most oil” means

When people ask what country has the most oil, they usually mean proven oil reserves, not current daily production.

Proven reserves are the amount of oil that geological and engineering data show can be extracted under current economic and technical conditions.

Current top countries by reserves

Most recent global rankings consistently put Venezuela at the top of the proven reserves list.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, and Iraq typically make up the rest of the top five, although exact reserve estimates vary slightly by data source and year.

Reserves vs. production

A country can have the most oil in the ground but not be the biggest producer.

The United States and Saudi Arabia often lead in annual oil production, while Venezuela still ranks first in proven reserves.

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