US oil reserves higher than Saudi and Russia

The US holds more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia and Russia, the first time it has surpassed those held by the world’s biggest exporting nations, according to a new study reported by the Financial Times.

Oslo-based group Rystad Energy estimates recoverable oil in the US from existing fields, discoveries and yet undiscovered areas amounts to 264 billion barrels.

The figure surpasses Saudi Arabia’s 212 billion and Russia’s 256 billion in reserves.

The analysis of 60,000 fields worldwide, conducted over a three-year period by the group, shows total global oil reserves at 2.1 trillion barrels.

This is 70 times the current production rate of about 30 billion barrels of crude oil a year, Rystad Energy said yesterday.

Richard Mallinson at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects said: “The rise in prominence of the US doesn’t diminish the role of Saudi Arabia or Russia, which have some of the cheapest to produce oil in the world,” he added.