Venezuela world's new leader in proven oil reserves

LONDON: Venezuela surpassed Saudi Arabia to become the world's largest holder of proven oil reserves, latest data showed.

The country's deposits were at 296.5 billion barrels at the end of last year, according to British Petroleum (BP) in its annual Statistical Review of World Energy Thursday.

The 2010 estimate for Venezuela increased from 211.2 billion in the previous report.

"These reserves are quantified and certified by third parties and recognised by the entire world as being the biggest proven reserves of the world," Bloomberg quoted Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez as saying in Vienna Thursday.

"We have always said that in the future the natural resources will become scarce and when the economy recovers and demand will come back then we will be one of the few countries able to respond to that," he said.

If President Hugo Chavez is reelected in the coming presidential elections this Oct 7, he has vowed to more than double Venezuelan oil production by increasing it to 6 million barrels per day by 2019, news reports said.

The world's biggest oil-exporting nations faced a 15 percent slump in crude prices last month, the biggest decline since December 2008, on speculation Europe's debt crisis would derail the global economic recovery.

Ramirez has said oil prices need to be higher than US$100 a barrel. The recent slump in crude is dangerous for producers, the oil minister said in Vienna Tuesday, where the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was meeting on Thursday to decide production quotas.

Saudi Arabia now trails Venezuela with a 16 percent share of world proven oil reserves, according to the report. Canada ranks third with 175.2 billion barrels, or 11 percent of total, unchanged from the revised number for 2010. - Bernama-NNN