Top 10 Proven Oil Countries

10.Nigeria - 35billion of barrels
Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, and is a major oil supplier to both the United States and Western Europe. Proven oil reserves are expected to be expanded to 40 billion barrels by the year 2010.

9. Libya - 39billion of barrels
Though sanctions against Libya had been removed by United States President Bush and also by The United Nations, some Libyan authorities caution foreign optimism about prospects in the country's socialist driven economy. Nonetheless, the removal of sanctions allows Libya to drive forward.

8. Russia - 60billion of barrels
Russia has the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. The country is the world's largest exporter of natural gas and the second largest oil exporter. Reorganization of the Russian Energy Sector has shown improvements in the industry over the last few years.

7. Venezuela - 79billion of barrels
According to the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Venezuela has 77.2 billion barrels of proven conventional oil reserves, the largest of any country in the Western Hemisphere. In addition it has non-conventional oil deposits similar in size to Canada's - at 1,200 billion barrels approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil. About 267 billion barrels of this may be producible at current prices using current technology.

6. United Arab Emirates - 97bilion of barrels
At one time an underdeveloped region, by 1985 the UAE had the highest per capita income in the world. The largest areas of petroleum production occur in two of the seven constituent parts of the UAE; these being Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi qualifies as a oil state in the same sense as Kuwait.

5. Kuwait - 102bilion of barrels
Kuwait hopes to step up oil production to reach capacity of 4 million bbl/d by 2020, but since Burgan was found in 1938 and is getting very mature, this will be a challenge. Furthermore, according to data leaked from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Kuwait's remaining proven and non-proven oil reserves are only about half the official figure - 48 gigabarrels.

4. Iraq - 115bilion of barrels
Iraq has the fourth largest reserves of conventional oil in the world at 112 gigabarrels. Despite its vast oil reserves and low costs, production has not recovered since the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Constant looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage in the oil fields has limited production to around 0.5 gigabarrels per year at best. Political risk is thus the main constraint on Iraqi oil production and likely to remain so in the near future.

3. Iran - 126bilion of barrels
Iran has the world's second largest reserves of conventional crude oil at 133 gigabarrels, according to the CIA World Factbook, although it should be noted that both Canada and Venezuela have larger reserves if Non-conventional oil is included. Iran is the second largest oil holder globally with approximately 10% of the world's oil.

2. Canada - 179bilion of barrels
Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands Project is what puts Canada on the map in this list. Current surface mining techniques and in-situ methods to extract bitumen from the oil sands make for an overwhelmingly positive future for Canada's oil industry.

1. Saudi Arabia - 264bilion of barrels
With one-fourth of the world's proven oil reserves and some of its lowest production costs, Saudi Arabia produces over 4 gigabarrels of oil per year and is likely to remain the world's largest oil exporter for the foreseeable future. However, there are serious political risks involved in Saudi Arabian domination of the world oil market. In spite of recent increases in oil income, Saudi Arabia faces serious long-term challenges, including rates of unemployment of at least 13 percent, one of the world's fastest population growth rates (its population has tripled since 1980), and the need for political and economic reforms. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia contains 262 gigabarrels of proven oil reserves, around one-fourth of proven, conventional world oil reserves. Although Saudi Arabia has around 80 oil and gas fields, more than half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields, and more than half its production comes from one field, the Ghawar field.

Oil prices end down after stock market fails to rebound

Oil prices end down after stock market fails to rebound

Oil prices settled lower Friday as traders watched the stock market decline even further, renewing concerns that economic growth may stall.

The tenuous stock market saga overshadowed tightening gasoline supplies that helped push oil's Thursday settlement price to a more than two month high.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 36 cents to settle at $61.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract fell to an intraday low of $61.35 after the Dow Jones industrials dropped by more than a 100 points. The Dow was trading at 12,158.08, down 76.26 points, in afternoon trading.

Brent crude for April lost 3 cents to settle at $62.08 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

“Oil is a horse that wants to break out of the gate, but can't until the stock market figures itself out,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citigroup Futures Research, pointed out that trading was light on Friday and most investors typically don't take on new positions ahead of the weekend.

“I think the stock market is one issue among many,” Evans said. “Certainly, as a comparison, the oil market is showing good underlying strength in the face of a weak stock market and commodity markets.”

On Thursday, crude oil rose 21 cents to settle at $62 a barrel – its highest settlement price since Dec. 22 – following a rally in gasoline futures, which rose on reports of a glitch at a Valero Energy Corp. refinery. Valero said operations at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery were normal, despite the reported outage of a unit.

Gasoline failed to hold onto gains it made on Thursday and slipped less than a penny to settle at $1.9018 a gallon.

Market participants were also focusing on the outlook for gasoline supply entering the peak spring and summer driving season. Problems at U.S. refineries have reduced output and cut into petroleum product supplies.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that stockpiles of gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, dropped last week by a larger amount than analysts had forecast. Meanwhile, demand for products over the last four-week period rose by 7.5 percent from the same period last year.

U.S. crude inventories climbed 1.4 million barrels to 329.0 million barrels last week. But gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 220.2 million barrels, and distillate inventories fell by 3.8 million barrels to 124.5 million barrels.

Worries over Iran's persistent refusal to suspend its nuclear program remain on oil traders' minds too, analysts said.

“There's a lot of focus on what's happening with Iran. Tensions over any possible sanctions are obviously positive for oil prices,” said Andrew Harrington, an analyst with ANZ Global Natural Resources in Sydney.

Washington is pushing for tougher U.N. sanctions on Tehran over its failure to comply with demands to halt its uranium enrichment program that the West fears could be used to build a nuclear weapon. Although the United States has said it has no plans to strike Iran militarily, it has also refused to rule out any option.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell nearly a penny to settle at $1.7682 a gallon, while natural gas prices fell 4.5 cents to $7.243 per 1,000 cubic feet.

By J.W. Elphinstone ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oil plunges below $51

Crude hits 19-month low after Saudi minister says cuts working, no need for an emergency OPEC meeting.

LONDON (Reuters) -- Oil prices plunged more than 3 percent back near $51 a barrel Tuesday after Saudi Arabia said OPEC production cuts were working well and that there was no need for an emergency meeting of the producer group.
U.S. light crude for February delivery tumbled $1.78 to $51.21 a barrel after touching $50.93, the lowest since May 2005, in earlier New York Mercantile Exchange trading. In London, Brent futures shed 82 cents to $52.30.
The price of crude has plunged more than 16 percent this year in part due to warm weather in the Northeast, the world's top heating oil market, in early January.
The selloff comes as some other commodities have come under pressure - which could lead to further selling down the road.
"We took measures in October in Doha and measures in Abuja (in December) and I believe these measures are working well. Inventories in the fourth quarter have come down ... which puts the market closer to balance," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said in New Delhi.
"Do not panic. Actually there is no reason for a meeting."
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of output from Nov. 1 and then to cut another 500,000 bpd from Feb. 1.
There had been speculation OPEC could hold an emergency meeting before its next scheduled conference on March 15.
Venezuelan Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez has said oil prices had fallen "too much" and that he would favor an extra meeting.
Other commodities have also had a rocky start this year and base metals fell in early trading Tuesday before stabilizing around midsession.
"We should not underestimate the global mood on commodities," said Frederic Lasserre of SG CIB in Paris. "There is not as much appetite for commodities anymore."
He predicted oil prices would test $50 in the near term, but then fresh buying interest could emerge.
Analysts said OPEC would also brake the slide and deeper price falls could drive the cartel to implement further cuts.
"We don't really see a collapse in prices. The further it goes down, the more hesitant the market will be about going even further," said Eoin O'Callaghan of BNP Paribas. "OPEC still has an impact on the market."
Stocks of oil majors fell across the board Tuesday.
Shell (down $0.41 to $67.40, Charts) lost 0.6 percent;
Exxon Mobil (down $1.09 to $71.57, Charts) slid 1.4 percent;
ConocoPhillips (down $1.02 to $62.81, Charts) retreated 1.4 percent;
BP (down $1.52 to $63.12, Charts) was down 2.2 percent.