There are perhaps few resources more critical globally than oil. Especially for Saudi Arabia, oil has given them not just riches but also power and influence. Such is the power of Saudi Arabia, with said power being derived from oil. Oil reserves aren’t just reserved to the Middle East, of course; one of the most highly developed countries in the World, Norway, also derives its wealth mainly from its vast oil reserves. This was more than offset by the decrease in production from OPEC countries, led by Iran and Saudi Arabia, even as oil consumption grew at a below-average rate of 0.9%. China and developing countries led this growth. However, this demand fell in countries belonging to the Organization of Economically Developed Countries. With all that happened later in 2020, but even the start of the year was not promising for the oil sector as Russia and Saudi Arabia engaged in an oil price war, which saw the price plummet. When these two countries disagreed on oil production levels, both countries started reducing prices which spelt disaster for the companies engaging in this industry.
Further, since people were in lockdown and traffic almost came to a standstill, demand dropped exponentially and resulted in prices being reduced further. This resulted in history, when futures for oil expiring in May 2020 turned negative, which meant that oil producers were paying customers to take oil off their hands due to fears that storage capacity for oil would run out. The oil industry, despite the volatility, has experienced an increase over the past year and more. Some of the countries with enormous oil reserves are still among the wealthiest nations in the World, and this is not going to end anytime soon. Funnily, many of these countries are embroiled in political turmoil and battling with poverty, despite being lucky enough to have large reserves of the most valuable energy source in the World.
Insider Monkey takes a look at the countries with the largest oil reserves in 2021, starting with number 11: Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in the World, but the benefits of being one of the biggest exporters and producers of oil have not trickled down to the general population, which is why the level of poverty is still relatively high. Libya’s National Oil Corporation is the biggest oil company in the country. The USA is home to some major oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Marathon Petroleum, and ConocoPhillips. United Arab Emirates’ biggest oil company is the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The Kuwait Oil Company is the biggest in the country and is owned by the government. Russia is another country that has vast oil reserves. Yet, due to the way the government operates, its citizens can still enjoy a high or even moderate standard of living, with wealth being concentrated among a select few. More details on this list with their oil reserves are in this article: 11 Largest Oil Reserves by Country in the World in 2021.
