Who owns most of the oil in the world?
Matthew Barrera
Updated on May 22, 2026
How the accessibility of oil reserves impacts profitability. Venezuela has the largest amount of oil reserves in the world with more than 300 billion barrels in reserve. Saudi Arabia has the second-largest amount of oil reserves in the world with 297.5 billion barrels.
Who holds 80% of the world's oil?
If we simplistically look at proven oil reserves, the answer is obvious: mostly OPEC and Russia. According to BP, the global authority on the subject, this collective group of 16 countries owns 1.35 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves, or nearly 80 percent of the world's total.Who owns the most crude oil?
10 Biggest Oil Companies
- #1 Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) (Tadawul: 2222)
- #2 PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR)
- #3 China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP)
- #4 Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)
- #5 TotalEnergies SE (TOT)
- #6 BP PLC (BP)
- #8 Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC)
- #9 Valero Energy Corporation (VLO)
Who supplies most of the oil in the world?
However, in 2020, five countries accounted for about 51% of the world's total crude oil production.
- The top five crude oil producers and their percentage shares of world crude oil production in 2020 were:
- United States15%
- Russia13%
- Saudi Arabia12%
- Canada6%
- Iraq5%