Iran ranks 2nd, 3rd in gas, oil reserves in world
The United States Department of Energy has introduced the Islamic Republic of Iran as the world’s third-largest oil and second-largest natural gas reserves holder.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) affiliated with the Department of Energy mentioned in its latest report on global oil and gas reserves that the total oil reserves of Iran were estimated at 209 billion barrels at the end of 2021.
According to the official report, Iran was the fifth-largest crude oil producer in OPEC in 2021 and the third-largest natural gas producer in the world in 2020. It holds some of the world’s largest deposits of proved oil and natural gas reserves, ranking as the world’s third-largest oil and second-largest natural gas reserve holder in 2021. At the end of 2021, Iran accounted for 24% of oil reserves in the Middle East and 12% in the world.
Iran’s oil reserves were more than the reserves of other countries except for Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
Venezuela possesses 304 billion barrels of oil reserves to stand first oil holder, followed by Saudi Arabia with 262 billion barrels. Canada, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Russia, the US, and Libya stand fourth to tenth holders of the largest oil reserves in the world.
Iran’s estimated proved natural gas reserves were 1,203 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of December 2021, second only to Russia, according to Oil & Gas Journal. Iran holds 17% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves and almost half of OPEC’s reserves.
Iran was followed by Qatar, the US, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, Nigeria, and Venezuela, who stood fourth to tenth in terms of holding gas reserves.
Iran was the world’s third-highest dry natural gas producer after the United States and Russia in 2021. Despite sanctions restricting investment and hindering Iran’s natural gas development, dry natural gas production rose more than 60% between 2011 and 2021, expanding to nearly 8.8 Tcf.