Venezuela is the clear global leader in oil reserves

https://www.upi.com/Energy-News/2018/07/31/Venezuela-is-the-clear-global-leader-in-oil-reserves/9251533031601/

While the United States is the production leader, its reserves are only 10 percent of what Venezuela has, a report from Italian energy company Eni found.

By

 

Daniel J. Graeber

 

 

 

While the United States is a global oil production leaders, its total reserves pale in comparison to Venezuela's, an annual report from Italian energy company Eni found. File Photo by Lilac Mountain/Shutterstock.

July 31 (UPI) -- An annual review of energy trends from Italian energy company Eni found the United States is a "game changer," though its Venezuela with the largest reserves.

In a report running nearly 90 pages, the Italian company's 17th annual review found total oil reserves declined 0.2 percent last year in part because of declines in some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Total production last year was relatively unchanged from 2016, though the United States and Canada were among the largest producers outside of OPEC. Last year marked the start of an OPEC policy to balance the market with coordinated production control measures.

"On the supply side, the United States continues to be the main game-changer," Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi stated in the report. "While world production remains nearly flat with respect to last year, the United States delivered one of the biggest increased in non-OPEC area production and confirms its leadership among producers." 

The four-week moving average for total U.S. production for the week ending July 20 was 10.95 million barrels per day, a 16.6 percent increase from the same period last year. That beats Saudi Arabia by about a half million barrels per day, based on the kingdom's June average.

For total reserves, however, the United States was not in the top 10. Those honors went to Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada, respectively. While the United States was the top producer last year, its total reserves represented about 10 percent of Venezuela's 302 billion barrels of oil.

Venezuela is facing growing isolation following the May election victory for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The International Monetary Fund in an outlook on Latin America said the country's economy is in a "profound" crisis and inflation is on pace to surge to 1 million percent by the end of the year.

Real gross domestic product for Venezuela is on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the third year in a row for a double-digit decline. For the rest of Latin America, the IMF said it expected GDP to grow by 1.6 percent this year and then accelerate to 2.6 percent in 2019.

For the United States, the economy expanded at 4 percent in the second quarter, one of its fastest rates in years, though much of that gain was supported by temporary factors.

For demand, Eni found relatively low crude oil prices in 2017 contributed to a 1.7 gain globally, beating the five-year average of 1.5 percent for the period ending in 2016.