Oil is one of the most widely used raw materials in the world. This element is present in our daily lives in plastic containers, dyes, soaps, shoes, or even electronic material. However, its most common and well-known use is as fossil fuels. This substance is mainly concentrated in 13 countries that control over 80% of the world’s oil reserves. But what is the country with the most oil in the world?
According to the latest data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela would be the richest country in oil with 303 million barrels, which represents 24.4%. This Latin American country is followed by Saudi Arabia with 258 million barrels, 21.5%, and in third place is Iran with 208 million barrels, according to the macro data from the newspaper Expansión.
Although Venezuela leads this ranking by far, it is not among the list of countries that export or produce the most. Why is this? Due to the political and economic blockade that the United States maintains on the country, it is unable to market this material. Additionally, they lack the necessary facilities to refine and produce oil.
What are Spain’s oil reserves?
In the case of Spain, in one year it only produces 40,000 tons, which translates to 0.07% of its annual consumption, as detailed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge of Spain. This requires us to rely on foreign imports to survive. Mostly they come from foreign countries such as Nigeria, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Iraq. Our country ranks 62nd among countries with the most global reserves. Although there is a minimum established by the IEA, sometimes it can drop below 90 days of crude storage. This situation would occur in the event of having to balance prices, as happened in March 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last year, the 31 member countries decided to release up to 60 million barrels to lower the price of oil worldwide. This decision was approved in the Council of Ministers, and in the case of Spain, it resulted in the release of 2.6 days of consumption.
